The Company
by bitbyboth
Summary: AU. Tony is a CIA agent who has just gotten a new mission to discover if a young man in a city called Fortuna is a threat. Little does he know the leaders of the city aren't willing to let the agent go.
1. Chapter 1

The Company CHAPTER 1

Hey all! Like I said, I'm going to continue the 'Shades of Gray' prompt from Ebony and Ivory Queens! I'm really excited about it, and I hope that all of you will be as well. Simple warning, I'm not sure if this is going to be DantexNero or if there will be no pairing, I have to see how it's going to write itself out, but I hope that won't deter you guys! :3

I don't own DMC or any of its characters, this is just for fun! :3

* * *

A sharp scream caused a young boy's blue eyes to snap open to the darkness.

'_Oh no, not again. Please tell me this is a dream.' _he thought, but looking around he was able to see the other foster kids moving around in the dark and he knew it was real. His sneakered feet hit the hard floor as crashes and more screams erupted from downstairs. The other kids made fun of him for sleeping in his clothes, but he had a reason for it.

He snatched into his small bag of belongings and removed the two keepsakes from his father, a pair of twin pistols named Luce and Ombra. Everyone thought they were broken, or unloaded because they couldn't figure out how they worked, otherwise they would never let a ten year old have them, and he wouldn't let anyone take them from him. It was times like now he needed them.

He moved to the door and one of the other kids grabbed at his leg. "Dante, those are toys, it sounds like there are real monsters out there."

The boy simply kicked him away and opened the door, slipping into the hallway and closing the door behind him as he shot furtive glances to both sides, holding his weapons at the ready. His hands didn't fit very well around the grips and his palms were sweating, but he could reach the triggers, so that was all that mattered.

He crept down the stairs, looking around as his fear started to crystallize into anger. The screaming had stopped but there was more still happening. The demons should be heading for the stairs any momen-

A sharp gasp was torn from his throat as a demon the size of a large man entered the doorway to the steps. It rustled as it moved and its' body was only held up by strings. It cocked its' head at him, blood dripped off the blades that made up its' hands and Dante recognized it immediately. His fingers clenched on the triggers of both guns, the bullets cutting through its' chest as the boy was thrown back against the edge of the stairs from the recoil.

Dante grunted in pain, but forced himself to raise his guns and fire again as the marionette lunged towards him. They were Mundus' minions, the same kind that killed his mother and brother. He forced himself to pull the triggers repeatedly, no matter how it flung his small body back against the steps. The damned puppet lurched forward and Dante had to roll to keep from having his head impaled on the same blade that had likely killed his foster parents only minutes ago.

He braced himself on a pair of steps, his back to the wall as he forced his little fingers to work faster, to pull harder on the triggers. These things were not going to follow him everywhere he went, they weren't going to keep haunting his nightmares and his life. He wouldn't let them anymore.

The thing finally collapsed and evaporated as a kind of purple smoke. Dante quickly pivoted his shoulders and opened fire on the next one. He could see two more, and one was stronger than the other two, probably the leader of the team. He ducked as a small blade whipped past him, catching his arm as he uttered a small cry of pain. This was apparently some kind of signal because both puppets moved words him. Luckily the stairs were narrow and would only allow one of them close enough to reach him at a time.

Two of the other kids had dared to leave the room and had peeked over the top of the stairs, finding him fighting the creatures. Dante saw that he had to keep the demons on the stairs. If he didn't…

He hated to think what a couple of demons would like to do to a room full of children.

He focused on his aim and the guns and as he did, he could see the bullets became more effective. One of the projectiles was strong enough to knock one marionette into the other down the stairs and he pursued them. He couldn't hear the gun blasts over the sound of his own blood and adrenaline pumping through his ears.

Next thing he knew there were men, all around him. Someone had called the cops from all the noise most likely. They weren't in the best neighborhood but when shrieks and gunshots fill the air, even the most un-nosey neighbor gets scared.

The men were dressed in all black, like a SWAT team and were focused on him. He looked around, letting his guns aim where they may, as all the commotion had caused him to lose the last marionette-the strongest one. The lapse in their attention was rectified when the final and strongest marionette plunged a huge blade through one of the men, cutting straight through the bulletproof vest and killing him. The demon threw the human carcass onto the floor like it was nothing, and the men opened fire.

One of the men scooped up the little boy but he refused to be stopped, he wriggled and squirmed until he was dropped onto the ground and he started shooting again.

The men's bullets appeared to pass right through the body without doing anything, but when Dante's bullets struck they seemed to be carrying a kind of golden light and with every hit the puppet's body convulsed. The men stopped shooting but Dante didn't. He looked more determined than ever, his face set in a scowl as he pulled the triggers so quickly it looked as if a machine gun was rattling the demon until it tore apart and disappeared into purple smoke.

The humans stared at the strange little white-haired boy, who was breathing heavily as he lowered his guns slightly. His arm had blood on it, but there was no longer the deep wound from the puppet's dart. His clothes were too big, and rather threadbare, hand-me-downs from foster children generations before him. How had this kid managed to take down something that their guns couldn't harm?

"What's your name?" a man who seemed to be the leader asked him and the child looked over.

"Dante. Dante Sparda." he replied tiredly, lowering his weapons so that the muzzles were pointed to the floor. He'd taken his father's first name as his last once he was taken into the foster system two years ago.

"Well Dante, how would you like to be adopted?"

That one question changed his whole life. The next day he was adopted out to a middle-aged couple who were unable to have children of their own. He started school and a kind of training regimen. He didn't know it at the time, but he'd been locked into a lifetime contract with the CIA.

* * *

The twenty year old demon hunter knew it was going to be trouble the moment the file fell on his desk. Bright red letters were stamped on the manilla envelope declaring: CLASSIFIED. Tony, also known as Dante though not at the company, arched a silver eyebrow at the bland agent in front of him, the one who had brought said envelope to his worn out, old oak desk with a rotary phone that he could use to kill a puma if necessary.

"What's this?" he grunted.

"You and your partner's eyes only." the man stated, his voice just as bland as his black suit and pasty skin.

"Right-in other words, something nobody else wanted." he grumbled, folding his hands behind his head, his ankles crossed on the edge of the desk. He wasn't the most typical of the CIA agents. Tony always balked at the dress code and did what he could to break the mold. He wore the suit-he had to, but it was rumpled and a little dirty. He had a red tie that hung loosely around his neck and had never seemed to be tied. His belt was graced with a large silver buckle and he wore black cowboy boots on his feet. Being pretty young for the company and damn good at what he did he was humored.

"Just read the file Tony. Lady already got her copy. You two are going on a trip." he smirked before walking away.

"…Asshole." Tony muttered under his breath. He tore open the envelope and pulled out a sheaf of photos. A boy was talking with a girl his own age, maybe a little younger than the agent. He had bleached out hair, cream skin, blue eyes and his right arm was in a sling. He was featured in every shot so it was definitely his target, but the question was target for what?

The paper just behind the pictures designated his mission as 'Threat Determination: Pending.' Threat? What about this kid was a threat? He supposed that was what he had to find out.

* * *

That's it! Hope you guys liked the first chapter! :3 I've been working hard to work this out! I have a few things set up, and then at a certain point I'll be winging it :3 So, I hope you guys are ready and excited for the new story! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth May 19, 2012


	2. Chapter 2

The Company CHAPTER 2

SirenaLoreley: Yeah, first chapter was more background, so I'm glad you like it, this chapter is sort of character building as well, but I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Nefarious Seraph 13: Yeah, DMC3 aged Dante-about anyway :3 It might end up being DxN, it all really depends on how the cards fall, there's definitely a chance it will be yaoi :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Glad you liked the opening scene, that was where I really wanted to start :3 Thanks for the vote of confidence btw XD I really appreciate it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: yup, gots to love that back story! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

STIXandMANNY: Basically, you'll know as soon as I know that the two will be paired or not XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: I'm glad you liked the background, I thought it was an important element to add :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Sorry these are a little short today, the chapter is extra long! I have to get to work and I wanted to post before I did!

* * *

Nero cringed as his arm was poked and prodded, a sharp pain or dull throb hitting him every once in awhile. It wasn't unbearable, sometimes it was worse. It certainly wasn't as bad as when he'd first gotten wounded.

Damn thing drove him crazy though, and kind of scared him. After he and his sister Kyrie had been attacked in the forest, he'd been able to drive off the demons-somehow-but had suffered a deep wound in his arm. The cut had hurt and festered until he'd been forced to see the doctor of the Order of the Sword, of which he was a member. Agnus-the man who was doing…_something_ to his arm at the moment, had said that the wound was very strange and garnered research if he were to find a way to reverse the process.

This 'research' had been going on once a week for months and every time the nineteen-year old male saw his arm it looked more and more dangerous. It looked like a demon arm, covered in red and blue scales, it also emanated a light blue light up the back of his arm and hand.

Doing everything left handed had been difficult at first-obviously he couldn't run around with his devil arm uncovered, he had to keep it in a sling…when he was in public. Frankly, if he hadn't used his right arm in battle, he would be dead right now, but of course he didn't tell anyone that. The monstrous appendage was actually…sort of useful. He could use it to grab faraway objects-and devils-and to pummel them.

After all, that's what the Order was for. The island of Fortuna was often harassed by demons, it was their job to assure that the citizens there remained safe. Or that's what he'd been told anyway. It was called the Order of the Sword and it was true that everyone, except for him, relied on blades. He'd embraced the current century and was the only one in the Order who used a firearm. He carried a sword too and was proficient in wielding both.

His teeth clenched and he pressed his head back against the head of the chair he was in, trying to keep a snarl from erupting from his throat from the strong pinch he felt in his arm. It dissipated a little, but still hurt.

"Are you nearly done?" he asked lowly, keeping from clenching his hand, though only barely.

"J-j-j-just about." the man replied. Nero couldn't see him, Agnus kept a screen between the young man and his arm so he couldn't see what was happening. Usually that just meant Nero was more anxious and waiting for something to happen, he figured it would be easier if he could just see what the man was doing.

After a minute or so the pinch came back and then went away completely, and he let out a silent sigh of relief, and carefully allowed the strange limb to curl. Then he felt a cloth roughly scrubbed against the sensitive flesh between the armored plates, where the doctor had been doing his work. The feeling made him cringe again, but he knew it was about over. Sure enough, a few seconds later, the screen was removed and he looked at his arm. No trace was left from the cutting, and poking, or whatever Agnus did to him, another benefit of the arm, it had amped up his healing power. He healed up from scratches and cuts in seconds instead of days.

"Everything a-a-alright Nero?" the man asked as Nero spent some time studying the appendage. The voice made his blue eyes glance up and he nodded.

"Yeah. I'll get out of your hair." he said with a frown, he would never want to actually be _in_ Agnus' hair, it was black and greasy. His eyes were brown and a bit beady. There was always something about the guy that Nero didn't trust, but there was nothing else he could do, there was no one else to turn to.

He shoved a red and black glove over his demonic limb, it blocked the dim glow. Then he pulled on a sling, affixing it around his neck. It was an uncomplicated thing so that he could throw it off if he needed to use his bringer.

"Any plans t-t-t-today?"

Nero had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the stutter. The man couldn't help it, but it drove him nuts. "Yeah, I have to meet Credo for a sparring match annnnd…" he heaved a sigh. "I'm late. Bye!"

* * *

Red Queen's weight was slung on his back as he ran towards headquarters. Red Queen was his blade, and she was a beauty, it was a single edged blade with a complicated mechanism in the handle that spewed a flammable liquid and sent off a spark that would let flame lick up the length. It was great on a lot of the demons that had been rearing their heads on the island recently. Many people saw the influx of demons was the end of times-church attendance had never been higher. The island worshipped the demon Sparda. Nero never exactly bought into it, but he went, and didn't do anything to stop it.

The young man skidded to a stop when he got to the platform outside. A man in a white Order uniform and brown hair stood with his back towards the youth.

He opened his mouth but his superior cut him off.

"You're late." he said icily, and Nero sighed.

"I know Credo. I'm sorry. I was at the doctor."

Credo sighed and turned around, revealing his hawkish features and dark eyes. "Very well, I suppose that's not your fault per se."

"Sorry, can't make the man work any faster." he grinned, feeling a little more at ease. Credo was his brother. Nero himself was adopted, but…well, Kyrie and Credo were his family anyway. Their parents had died several years ago leaving Credo as their guardian until they turned eighteen.

"No, I suppose not," he answered the barest ghost of a smile touching his lips. "are you ready to train or are you just going to dally?"

"You know that I was born ready." the young man stated drawing his sword. The two clashed.

* * *

Tony met with his partner on the island of Fortuna where the boy, Nero, lived. Now came the part he hated.

"I'm bored." he complained, laying his head back against the seat in a nondescript car he and his partner were sitting in, the latter taking surveillance photos. They'd finally located the kid but all he was doing was having lunch with the girl that had been in the original file.

Lady turned her mismatched eyes away from her camera to shoot a glare at her partner instead. Her short raven hair flared out around her cheeks as she turned.

"I _know_ Tony. Our mission is to assess the threat level of this kid, we can't just walk up to him-we have to start at a distance." she said curtly. She straightened her white blazer before pinching the bridge of her nose, accentuating the scar that cut straight across it.

"I don't understand why we can't-"

"Because what if he _is_ a threat?"

"I'll go. I'll be fine, that runt can't be a threat to me."

"We stay in the car."

"_You_ stay in the car." he answered stubbornly, reaching for the door handle.

"Dante," she said sharply and he glared venomously at her. "Not. Yet."

Tony folded his arms grumpily. "You shouldn't call me that. Ever. You know that."

"Sometimes it's the only way to get your attention."

"Yeah, threatening my job, family and my ability to work with you tends to catch my notice-_Mary."_

She had the grace to look chagrined. "I'm sorry. I know you trust me with that information, I shouldn't use it against you like that."

He studied her for a long moment before sighing. He and Lady had been a hot item a few years back after their meeting at his first big mission. The company couldn't know and they'd broken it off after the passion cooled and realized the stakes were too high to risk remaining together. "Fine, wake me when something interesting happens."

* * *

Nero got away from the battle with only minor scrapes and injuries and a good blow to his pride. He could never get the upper hand on Credo and it frustrated him sometimes. He was tempted to tear off his sling and go toe-to-toe-but of course that was crazy talk, he could never show the monstrous appendage.

Afterwards he dropped Red Queen off at the house and met Kyrie for lunch. They always went to this quaint little outdoor bistro and there wasn't a better word for Kyrie than quaint. The place specialized in soups, sandwiches, tea, and baked goods. It wasn't particularly to Nero's tastes, but it was one of the best places on the island and who was he to complain?

The auburn haired girl smiled as they sat down and her brown eyes sparkled. At one time he'd had a crush on her-hell a lot of people did, she was as pretty as she was sweet. However, they were family and he'd learned to accept that. It was probably better anyway, he would always be welcome in her life unlike an ex.

They chatted about the events of the day so far, Kyrie was practicing for her next full length solo at the church for the festival, gushing about how beautiful it was and hoping she could do it justice. Nero just smiled, nodding and reassuring her, no one on the island had a better voice than she did.

"Oh, but I'm talking all about myself-you had an appointment with the doctor today didn't you? What did he say?"

"Eh, same old-still don't know what's wrong, more tests are required."

"Ohh, that's so awful!" she said with a flash of anger. "This has been going on for months. Your arm still isn't better, they should send you to a professional on the mainland or something!"

"No, it's okay Kyrie. I don't think that's such a good idea anyway. It's okay. At least my arm isn't getting any worse-it's stable."

"Yes, stable. I suppose that's something to be thankful for." she said sadly. "I still don't like you going out for the Order when they won't do anything _else_ to get your arm back to working order."

"Yeah, but I'm okay Kyrie, don't worry. Hey, how's that quilt going that you've been working on?" he decided to change the subject again, hoping that she would start talking. Indeed she did. Kyrie couldn't stand being idle and took up various projects to eat up her time. Right now it was quilting.

Nero looked around nodding at certain times to assure her that he was still listening, but something was bothering him. Like there was a target on his back. That's when he noticed parked across the street was a black car. Normally it wouldn't bother him, but there weren't very many vehicles on the island and this one had dark tinted windows blocking out whoever was inside. He couldn't explain it, but he knew that there was someone in there, watching him. It didn't help that he'd noticed the car driving past him on his way here.

Maybe it had to do with his arm…Agnus warned that if anyone found out about it they would come after him…he had used it a few times, but mostly at night out in the forest. His heart started pounding though. He had to get away from whoever was in that car.

* * *

Really what is alerting Nero are his devil senses picking up Dante, but since Dante has a slightly different 'frequency' than other demons he can't really put his finger on it :3 Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth May 25, 2012


	3. Chapter 3

The Company CHAPTER 3

SirenaLoreley: Glad you like the slow pace so far, things will start to pick up soon though! :3 Also I wanted to go with the 'sister' relationship right away, just because you consider someone a sister doesn't mean you won't put your life in danger to save them-I mean look at Credo, he died for her and he was her brother :3 Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Surrendertome: Yes, this story is going to mesh some of the events from DMC4 but they are gonna play out a little differently because of the way it's going so far :3 Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Sorry to hear about your bad week, glad the update helped a bit :3 Anticipation is definitely building and going to come to a head in this chapter! Agnus always gave me the creeps too, for the record XD Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Yep, back story! Gotta love it in AUs :3 So Nero may be a little paranoid XD However, it's not paranoia if you are right! XD Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Yep, definitely giving this one the full story treatment, only worried because I have no idea how long it's gonna be! XD Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

TheSilverDarkness: Yeah, I thought the CIA would be a fun idea, my sister pitched it to me originally! XD Um, this story probably won't be DxL, I like the couple but there will likely only be slight mentions of their prior relationship. If anything it will be DxN because that's the couple I like the most. However, at the moment I'm not sure if there is going to be any real romance, I just have to see what happens like the rest of you! XD Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Neko Chan the Dark: Yes, I've been working on this story and some on Ebony and Ivory Queens, so you've probably got some catch-up to do! XD For this story, yes, a lot of backtracking has to be done because I'm not following the canon storyline. I have to show how Dante and Nero got this way, and how Dante is willing to be part of a government agency :3 Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Meech Macko: Like I told you in my review reply there will be flavors of DMC4 and Dante is part of the CIA, not being hunted by them, so hope you enjoy the chapter! Thanks for the review! *gives cookies*

Hey all! I do not own DMC or any of the characters, all this is for funsies! :3

* * *

Lady ignored her snoozing partner as she focused on the task at hand, snapping pictures and watching the young man with an injured arm through her camera. She couldn't understand why they were watching him. The boy lived here, he had family-adopted, but family nonetheless. Why involve her and Tony? They handled the demonic cases, so what had set off alarms that this was a case for them?

She sighed, they would have to figured it out, that was their job, but before then-something else was bothering her.

"Here, take over for a few minutes." Lady said, shoving the camera into Tony's hands.

"Wha-? Where you going?" he asked sleepily as he was pulled from his catnap.

"Bathroom. Stay put."

He grumbled as she closed the door and watched as she walked into the restaurant they were parked at. He looked over, trying to find the kid they were watching and spotted his bleached hair as he stepped into an alley.

"Great time to leave Lady." he whispered stuffing the camera under the seat, unbuckling his seatbelt and giving chase.

* * *

The young man had seen the woman get out of the car and into the restaurant and saw his chance, that is, until he heard someone following him. He assumed that it was the woman and broke into a jog, trying to get out of sight before he was seen slipping into the alleys that he knew like the back of his hand…well…the non-demonic hand anyway.

Blue Rose felt comforting in his hand, as his back pressed against the brick wall. He closed his eyes, listening to the footsteps following him. He was around the corner at the conjunction of several alleys hoping to get the drop on the woman following him and find out what she wanted, by force if necessary.

He waited until he heard boots scuffing over the gravel near the end of the alley. He swung around aiming his gun at the person's head only to see two guns pointed at his own chest. He narrowed his dark blue hues, looking the other male over. This wasn't the woman-she must have had a partner waiting in the car.

"Why are you following me?" he demanded. His glare intensified as he felt his arm flickering under the sling. His demonic appendage alerting him to the presence of another powerful demon. Was that why they were following him? Because they were demons? He could handle demons.

Tony's eyes were drawn to the light emanating from Nero's arm. "Got something up your sleeve, kid?" he asked. Now that he was closer he could tell that the young man's hair was not bleached, it was natural, like his own silver locks.

He must have seemed like he was going to move closer because the young man jumped back, his finger tightening on the trigger and there was an explosion of light and sound. Luckily Tony had been able to move his right hand, knocking Nero's arm so that the bullets simply embedded themselves into the brick of the buildings around them.

"Little quick on the trigger, aren't ya?"

Nero scowled. "You have to be when dealing with demons." he stated, lifting his arm, so that the strap of his sling came over his head and the fabric landed on the ground. His arm was still covered with a glove but the glow was more clearly visible now.

Tony scoffed. "You seem like one to talk."

"Shut up." he grumbled, taking another shot-which was met with two responses from Ebony and Ivory. The bullets collided in midair sending the chunks of hot lead harmlessly to the ground. Nero blinked in surprise. "You're fast."

"That's not what she said." he grinned cheekily in response.

Nero let off another shot and while Tony was reacting to that he lunged forward knocking the older teen to the ground and pulling back his right arm and driving it down into the agent's jaw, clobbering him good enough that he saw stars-and red. His devil trigger flared up but he quashed it back down knowing there was never an appropriate time to use it.

The kid grabbed a fistful of shirt and lifted him up, spinning him around and throwing him into the wall at the end of the alley finishing up with a shot from his gun that struck Tony in the chest. The agent crumpled to the ground in a heap and Nero sighed, turning away. He put a hand to his mouth feeling a little disgusted with himself as he moved to pick up his sling. He kept his back to his would-be attacker, not wanting to look at his human-looking body, as he affixed his sling back into place.

Unfortunately for him, he'd counted Tony out a little too soon, the half-demon agent was on his feet mere seconds after dropping to the ground; by the time Nero was fixing his sling Tony was behind him with a cloth soaked in a sleeping agent in one hand. His left arm wrapped around the kid's torso and jerked him back against his chest as his right hand covered his nose and mouth. Nero gasped taking in a breath of the horrible chemicals. He coughed and struggled but quickly realized he wasn't able to get away and black overtook his vision.

Tony removed the cloth once the young man stopped struggling and sighed in pain at the bullets that were pushing their way out of him.

"Tough little bastard." he frowned softly, reminded of himself really-in more ways than one, his file explained that he had no real family, just that he'd been taken in by some locals.

"Tony! What the hell are you doing?" Lady demanded as she made her way down the alley.

"Oh-well see, after you left the kid here came down this way and confronted me."

"So…?"

"I…think we're entering a gray area here."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded impatiently with a sigh.

"We're never suppose to hurt humans that haven't given up their humanity, and kill demons on sight." That was what the two of them went by at least. They had the jurisdiction to take down human criminals if they chose, but they hardly ever did so.

"Yes Tony, that's our little creed, the rest of the CIA can handle human scumbags. What are you getting at?"

Tony didn't answer, just pulled the glove on Nero's arm down to expose part of the demonic appendage. Lady drew her gun and the male agent quickly turned to shield Nero's body with his own.

"Stop!"

"…Tony?" she asked, now seeming worried more than annoyed.

"He's human, and demon."

"Like you," she breathed. "You're right, he does fall into that gray spectrum. So what do we do?"

"Study. I think he might be like us. A demon hunter."

"Tony, he's too young. His file said he was only eighteen."

"We were going to kill him if he turned out to be a demon. If he's old enough to die, he's old enough to be taken in." he replied with a fierce glare. A passion that Lady rarely saw from him, usually hidden behind his flippant attitude.

"I don't know." she said uncertainly.

"If we don't they'll rule him a threat from our findings. This is the only way. If I don't agree to train him they'll kill him-or they'll make us."

Lady looked a little queasy at the thought. She took out demon scum, not half-human kids. "…I'll bring around the car."

* * *

Sorry, this stuff was mostly hashed out in the chapter in my challenge, but I added a few tidbits, so I hope you guys like it anyway! :3 Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth May 31, 2012


	4. Chapter 4

The Company CHAPTER 4

Neko Chan the Dark: Dante's plan is to help Nero by making him join the CIA, though Nero certainly isn't going to be too gung ho about it XD Yep, more plot this chapter! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Yep, new stuff on the way now! :3 Reaction this chapter ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: Glad that you're interested! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Glad that you liked the last chapter and I added enough to keep it fresh, I was a little worried :3 I love Tony's 'that's not what she said' line XD Soo very Dante. Yeah, Nero could get date raeped XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Surrendertome: Yeah, Dante is protective over Nero because he's never met another half-devil other than Vergil at this point so he's concerned about what will happen to him if he leaves him alone. Yeah, it's a little weird to see Dante as an agent, but with the little tweaks to his past I think it works out okay :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Chain Mell: Yep, fun begins this chapter! ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Lady knows quite a bit about Dante, she's his closest friend :3 Age difference is only a few years between the two, sorry if that wasn't clear. Dante a few years after DMC3 and Nero is about 18-19. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

STIXandMANNY: Yeah the 'she-said' joke is awesome ;3 I thought it was something Dante couldn't pass up. Nope, Nero definitely not in a pleasant mood! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Tony wants to teach Nero the ropes, even though he's still pretty fresh himself, at least he's still a bit ahead of Nero so he's got enough to teach a newbie :3 Yeah, I think I would love Tony to train me! :D Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I love the way this chapter goes, so I hope you guys enjoy it!

* * *

"You know this is completely against protocol, right?" Lady informed her partner sourly. "We should have called in and got permission to contact and come back for him."

"Yeah, I don't think I could pull the wool over his eyes like that twice." Tony replied, sitting in the back seat of the car. The kid's head was in his lap as he leaned over putting his arms together and securing a zip-tie around his wrists, damn things were nearly impossible to break, even Tony had trouble getting out of them sometimes.

"What happened to 'oh, he's no threat, I can handle him!'?" the woman asked lowering her voice and speaking insultingly.

"Blah, blah, I just don't know if I could knock him out. The kid was prepared, he's got a fighting spirit." he said, tone approving as he bound the boy's ankles the same way as his wrists. The two were swiftly rolling out of town to where they had stowed Lady's car when they met up.

"We have to split up, less chance of us getting in any trouble." she explained as she pulled over.

"I'll take the kid."

"Damn right you will. I am not taking responsibility for this mess." she stated.

Tony chuckled. "I know."

"Be careful Tony." she said, casting a wary glance at their victim.

"He's tied up, what's the worst he can do?

* * *

Nero couldn't understand what was happening to him. He couldn't remember a whole hell of a lot at the moment either. Who was he? What was going on? Was he dead? There was black on the edges of his vision as he opened his eyes and his head pounded slightly drawing a groan as he closed his blue hues again.

"You finally waking up there kid?" he heard someone say, and assumed they were talking to him. He couldn't place the voice, it wasn't brand new to him, but he also didn't know it very well. He ignored the person for the moment, something subconsciously telling him he didn't like the man anyway, and tried to take stock of the rest of his body. He was in one piece, fingers and toes wiggled in response to his commands to do so. However, his wrists and ankles were bound with something and that sent a dart of alarm through him and sent his mind reeling to put together what had gotten him here.

His memory began to churn out information a little faster and the recollection had panic flaring through him and he struggled, his feet slamming into some kind of hard plastic. He squirmed with his shoulders trying to move and finally reopened his eyes and gasped through the gag in his mouth when he felt himself falling. The young man grunted when he landed on the floor-he was in the backseat of a car-now in a highly uncomfortable position, his face buried in the short carpet fibers, his body bowed and his legs jammed under him.

The half-devil mumbled several indistinguishable, dirty words as he continued trying to free himself, but whatever he was tied with held tight. Instead he turned his sights on getting off the dirty carpet and pushed himself up onto his knees. As soon as he did though the man driving hit the brakes-and not having any free hands to catch himself with he fell right back onto his face, growling.

Tony laughed. "That's for shooting me-that shit hurts you know. You could kill someone that way."

Nero made a snaky comment in response, but it came out jumbled through the spit-soaked gag between his teeth, while he pushed himself up again. Once again his attempts were foiled and he hissed a sigh out his nose, which was once again buried in the floor, asking why his captor was fucking _doing that!_

"That time was just for shits and giggles." was his answer.

"Great," he grumbled, clearly enough to be understood. He gingerly pushed himself up once again and got his chest onto the top of the backseat, pushing himself up until he was laying on said seat. Once there he curled back his legs and kicked the back of the agent's seat.

"Ow! Hey, knock it off!" Tony grumbled. Nero kicked him again, making the other male growl lightly and Nero had the distinct sensation that they were pulling over before the car came to a stop. A fresh wave of adrenaline rushed through him, okay-they were stopped-NOW what the fuck was he going to do?

"Am I gonna have to throw your punk ass in the trunk?" the agent asked as he turned around in his seat with a frown. Nero only glowered in response-what else was he suppose to do? He was bound hand and foot and gagged so he couldn't even spit at his captor. Instead he opted to kick his seat again.

Tony frowned, unamused, and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Listen kid, I just saved your life, you could do with a little more gratitude." Nero yelled something through the gag and the agent finally sighed and reached over unbinding the knot behind the kid's head and letting him spit the piece of cloth out.

"Gratitude! ?" he shot venomously. "Let go of me!"

"Eh, no can do, not if you like to continue breathing."

Nero sputtered. "Yeah-thanks! I think I was doing just fine on that front before you _drugged me!_"

"Hey, the people I work for-if they found out you had that demonic arm would be willing to kill you in a heartbeat."

"Then don't let them find out." he hissed.

"It's kinda my job to do this stuff. I'm going to get you out of this though. As long as you agree to cooperate, it should all be fine."

"Cooperate with what? Besides, isn't this kind of coercion? I'm tied up, it seems like it'd be pretty easy to make me cooperate."

"No, I mean, you have to agree, willingly, to work with them."

"Ah, yeah, you're doing just swimmingly at convincing me to do that! Just who are you-wait-I have a better question, _what_ the hell are you?"

"What?" he grinned "What makes you think I'm not human?"

"You survived a gunshot to the chest!"

"There is something invented called Kevlar."

That tripped him up but only for a second. "Blood. I saw blood fly out of you-you're still covered in it." he accused.

"Observant too, that's good." he commented thoughtfully.

"Stop beating around the bush!"

"To tell you the truth, I'm not really sure myself. And what's your story with that glow stick ya got?"

Nero paled. "What?"

"Yeah, I seen it kid. Don't flip. How'd ya get it?"

"I don't know." he stated, directing his gaze down to the seat.

Tony paused a long time. "The people I work for, they tell me that I'm half-demon, half-human."

This made Nero eye him. "Sparda."

Tony looked over. "How do you know that?"

"Sparda is the thing everyone in Fortuna worships like a god. The legend goes that he had two sons."

"Yeah, that's how it goes, only one left now."

Nero's eyes widened. "You-you are a son of Sparda?" he asked in surprise. It was like finding out a fairytale you've been told all your life had suddenly come true. Not only that-but he had bested one of the strongest characters in a fight!

"That's what I've been told. Don't remember much of my old man."

"Who _are_ you? What the hell do you want with me?"

"You can call me Tony, and I've already told you-I want to help."

"I honestly don't see how this is helping me," he said with a slight glare. "Where are you taking me?"

"Well…for now I'm taking you somewhere safe so that I can iron things out with my bosses before they see you."

"Sounds…horrible. Can I go home?"

"You're not a great listener, are ya kid?"

"Not particularly, no." he replied flatly.

Tony sighed, as he clipped his seatbelt back on. "This is gonna be a great trip."

* * *

Nero was silent for the next hour of the trip, other than grunting as he pushed himself up into a sitting position so that he could look out the window of the vehicle. Tony didn't really like the quiet and had the radio blaring. The young man nudged the back of his seat and he turned down the volume.

"I have to take a piss old man, pull over or something."

"Old man?" he sputtered in response.

"Hey, I figure if you can call me kid that makes you old."

Tony chuckled and did pull over, it wasn't like they were on a major highway or anything, trees expanded out on either side as far as the eye could see. He got out of the car and stretched out his cramped limbs before opening the backdoor. He dragged Nero off the seat and let him arch his back and stretch as much as he could before pulling a pocket knife out of his pocket and cutting through the zip ties on the kid's wrists, freeing his hands.

The agent took Nero's left arm and pulled it over his shoulder, not seeming in the mood to cut his legs free so he could take off, forcing him to hop the short distance to the edge of the woods. From there he folded his arms and waited expectantly.

Nero felt a blush dust his cheeks. "You mind giving me a _little_ bit of privacy here?

"Shy?" he grinned. "Okay, whatever." he said, spinning on his heel to look in the opposite direction and took about two paces away.

The young captive smirked, bending his knees to lower himself and slid his glove off his arm exposing the sharp talons. He slid a few behind the tie around his sore ankles and pulled forward, the tie gave with a snap that had the agent whirling and Nero bolting into the brush.

Tony let out a curse and took off after him.

* * *

Oh Nero, you sly boy! XD Tony is not used to taking care of captives so he's probably not exactly following protocol. :3 Hope you guys liked, so please leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth June 7, 2012


	5. Chapter 5

The Company CHAPTER 5

SirenaLoreley: Nero is simply planning on running back in the direction of Fortuna and hoping that he'll find it XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I don't think that anyone in the Company would tie a little Dante up in zipties, but it is a funny thought XD Tony's got to catch up and find Nero, and the blush was real, Nero's not that good an actor I don't think! Dante is a big ol' softie :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Neko Chan the Dark: Yep, Dante can be an idiot at times XD Although, in his defense, Dante didn't t think that Nero's talons would be sharp enough to break through the zipties, after all, he's only seen the top part of his arm, not his fingers. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Chain Mell: Yes, seemed a little awkward to write out that way though XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

STIXandMANNY: Tony's not in for TOO much of a long day :3 But a good chase anyway! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: The banter of the last chapter was awesome to write, I laughed a few times while I was thinking it up! Dante is going to have his hands full a bit XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

TheSilverDarkness: I thought the part in the car was funny too, you have to have some bright spots in stories like this :3 As for Vergil, umm…I'm pretty sure he's not going to show up, but in this story Dante dealt with Temen Ni Gru 2 years ago, so Vergil should be in the service of Mundus if anything. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Glad you liked the chapter so much! It was a lot of fun to write, I was smirking and laughing through writing most of it XD Nero is most certainly not a quiet captive, feisty is good ;) Yeah, Tony feels pretty dumb for letting Nero get away like that XD Glad last chapter could improve your mood, sorry to hear that last week was so terrible! ): How come you're moving your stories over somewhere else? Anwayay, thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Blood of Dusk: Yep, Nero is crazy, who would run away from Dante? Honestly? XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Hope ya'll had a good week and enjoyed my little one-shot in Ebony and Ivory Queens earlier this week :3 Enjoy!

* * *

Tony ran in as straight a line as he could, but he hadn't really been chasing Nero before and realized that the kid was actually quite a bit quicker than he was.

"Hey! Kid! Nero! Fucking stop!" he shouted. He didn't have many options to turn to. He could either use his devil trigger and try to catch up, or shoot his leg and try to take him down so that he could grab him. He didn't really like using his trigger unless there was no other option, so that left his gun. He drew Ivory and decided on a warning shot, hoping that the young man would drop to avoid being fired at. If that didn't work he'd have to take out one of his legs so he could catch him.

* * *

Nero's breath rushed in and out of his lungs, luckily he was in good shape. His heart was pounding in his ears in time with the rate that his feet were hitting the ground as he wove around trees and did whatever he could to make himself a difficult target. Tony still had guns-he didn't have Blue Rose anymore. He assumed it was probably still in the car, though he wasn't planning to go back to it anytime soon. He had to get away from this guy. Who knew were the fuck this person was planning on taking him to experiment on his arm? The demonic appendage was actually exposed to the air in case he needed it, the glove stuffed into his pocket.

There was a gunshot and he nearly jumped out of his skin. Where was he aiming? He didn't feel anything scrape by him or anything. He kept running and simply ducked his head down a bit to keep from getting it shot off.

An agonized scream ripped from his throat a few moments later at an unspeakable pain blooming in his calf. He toppled to the ground and gripped at his leg. Hot, wet blood met his fingers and he clenched his teeth and felt his eyes water. It was one of the worst pains he'd ever experienced in his life. Being the only Knight with a gun he'd never been shot before. He grit his teeth and saw that the bullet was a clean through and through, and he was already starting to feel less pain.

He whirled when he heard Tony's running gait. He had his right arm at the ready, and lashed out, grabbing him with the ghostly apparition and throwing him further into the woods away from him with a satisfyingly loud crash. From there he forced himself up to his feet and started loping in the direction the car had been coming from. He had to get out of here, he had to get out of here, he had to get out of here!

Tony snarled as he picked himself up, stifling a louder growl as he pulled a sharp branch out of his shoulder. He could feel his anger boiling up and shook his head, forcing it back, forcing back the devil inside him. He had problems controlling it sometimes, especially when he was injured.

He paused as he realized the kid had already managed to get up and take off again! How was that possible! ? Maybe he had more demon blood than he'd anticipated. Damn it. Why did he always underestimate people! ? Well, he'd lost his quarry, that really only left him the one option at his disposal…

* * *

Nero felt an alien energy rush over his body, one that made his hair stand on end, made his stomach churn and panic started blooming inside his mind. He was still limping, each step sent pain flaring straight to his brain, and now he had the distinct sensation something _very _dangerous had started chasing him.

Not only that, but it was catching up! Holy shit, he could feel it getting closer but how was it moving so fast! ? He threw himself forward into a roll to get away, and felt something like a freight train smash into him, rolling until he was slammed onto his back, his devil bringer gripped tightly above his head.

On top of him was a demon plated in bony, red and black armor, his hands had huge claws, he was looking at him with piercing red eyes, and he felt power radiating off him in waves. He quivered under the threat, goose bumps raising all over his body as he made sure to maintain the demon's stare. The creature licked its lips.

"T-Tony?" he whispered hesitantly, carefully flexing his bringer, but it was caught in that steely grip. He wasn't going to be able to get it out.

The demon blinked a few times before giving a slight tilt of his head. A bright red flash came off him and Nero had to close his eyes as that power shot over him again and then receded. When he was able to open the blue hues again, Tony was on top of him.

"Didn't want to scare you like that kid, but I couldn't exactly catch up to you."

"…You're really not human are you?"

"We're the same, you and I. That's why I want to help you. I've never really met another half-devil before."

"I'm not," he protested. "This thing. I got this thing in an accident."

"Sure, but how long has your hair been white?"

"Always but-"

"Then you have some devil blood in you somewhere, whatever happened, my guess is that the arm is your demon blood manifesting, just in a different way than mine does."

"And yours is that…scary thing with your whole body?"

"That's not the only thing, but…yeah, it does that."

Nero licked his lips nervously, and then proceeded to attempt bucking the older man off him. Tony had the better leverage point however and didn't have to do much to keep him down.

"You're wrong!" he snapped finally through his heavy breaths as he continued to squirm. "You're wrong! I don't have demon blood, this isn't some kind of manifestation! It's just some weird thing that happened and they're going to get rid of it!

"Who told you that?"

Nero glared. "The Order of the Sword. They fight demons. I'm one of the knights. They're trying to get rid of it."

"How?" he snorted. "By filtering all the demon out of your blood? It's not going to work kid." he sighed softly. "It's just something that becomes part of you. Just because you have it inside you though doesn't mean that's what you have to be."

"I don't _know_, okay? I don't know how I'm going to get rid of it, but…" he looked on the verge of panic, and swallowed it down. "I can't possibly _keep _this thing."

"Well…it seems you've already discovered how to use it."

"Out of necessity. You have any idea how difficult it is to fight one-handed, with your non-dominant hand?"

"Guess not," he admitted. "But you have to listen to me. I can help you cope with this stuff. I'm sure the demon arm isn't the only thing that's different." he stated.

Nero hesitated as though he knew what Tony was talking about, but wary of bringing it up himself. "What sort of things do you mean?"

"Well, there is one thing I'm pretty sure all half-demons have to deal with, it's like one of those little shoulder devils from cartoons whispering things in your ear. Only it's like all the time. It wants power and destruction…usually anyway, sometimes it wants other stuff like sex and-yeah, that sort of stuff. Hey, are you okay?"

Nero had gone sort of pale but nodded. "So why is this happening? Why now?"

"Well…you're like eighteen right? That's around the same age I was when the whole devil-y thing started acting up." he shrugged. "My best guess is you're kinda ending puberty and as a last kick in the balls have some devil power and some more crazy urges…and a devil arm in your case."

Nero was worried. Tony was hitting the nail on the head and his theory made sense…

"And you're willing to help me." he said with a firm glare.

"I'm willin' to try if you are."

The kid licked his lips and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

I am having some trouble with where this story is going so more updates may be slower coming. I'm working out how I want to develop the characters and also what events I want to happen, may take me some time to work things out so be patient with me :3 Oh, and review, remember to do that! Helps keep me inspired! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth June 15, 2012


	6. Chapter 6

The Company CHAPTER 6

Chain Mell: Hey, I did send you a PM because I can't remember your DA username and you never got back to me, so sorry about not contacting you! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Nero is a sly little devil! XD The last chapter's little 'heart-to-heart with Dante and Nero was pretty fun to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it. Nero just keeps getting more heaped on his plate all the time XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: Man, I wish I could see the picture you tried to link me to-however fan fiction breaks any links that aren't to somewhere else WITHIN fan fiction, really kinda sucks. If you want to give a link you have to put spaces around all the dots. Glad that Diamondback gave you the idea for the "Black Mamba" version, sounds very cool :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I know right? It seems like if the person you were beating suddenly had armor and a demon face you would notice XD I guess Nero was too busy punching. The Order would definitely try to promise to return Nero to normal. It never quite made sense to me why they worshipped Sparda and hate all other demons…and turn themselves into angels…which are actually demons…very confusing XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Yeah, I'm not sure what kind of trouble Nero could get into in the middle of the woods, but I suppose eventually he would get to a town XD I don't know if I would say Nero _trusts_ Dante, but he's willing to give him a shot anyway. :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Neko Chan the Dark: Dante figured the best way to go was to lay everything out truthfully XD Tony isn't great at the whole keeping information secret part of his job. He just likes killing demons XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Nero is considering staying put for the moment anyway XD That devil trigger would scare the pants off me too, I think I would stay in the car! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: Nero was fun to write in the last chapter, he makes himself as difficult to handle as possible XD The two don't get on each other's nerves too much this chapter, but it probably won't exactly be smooth sailing from here on out XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ebony Redgrave: I'm glad you like the story, I've been having a good time fleshing it all out :3 I've had quite a bit of practice with Dante and Nero's characterizations so I'm glad a fresh set of eyes still thinks I'm in character :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Thanks for all the reviews guys! And also thanks to you guys out there that are reading! Hope you enjoy the chapter! Just remember that I don't own Devil May Cry, and this is just for fun :3

* * *

By the time Nero was allowed to get up the wound in his leg had healed leaving only a bloody smear on his jeans. Tony was by far worse looking, he still had the bloodstains in the middle of his chest from the bullets fired into him earlier and now he had a gaping hole in the shoulder of his shirt and jacket that revealed pure unmarked flesh even though that was also crusted with crimson.

Nero had allowed himself to be taken back to Tony's SUV and got into the back seat without complaint, and also without restraints, so long as he stayed on the passenger side of the car-where the agent could see him if he tried anything funny.

Tony went around to the trunk of the car and unzipped a small suitcase that was laying there. He shucked out of his destroyed shirt and jacket, removing his tie as well before pulling on a red button-up shirt. He preferred the color, it looked better on him-and it was better at hiding those pesky bloodstains. The young man didn't look at him as he did this just picked at the new holes in his pants.

"Healing sure does come in handy doesn't it?"

"Yeah, not quite fast enough to get away from you though," he answered simply.

"I don't think you would've escaped even if your leg had healed faster," the older male disagreed as he slammed the trunk closed and moved to get in the driver's seat. "I move pretty fast in that form."

"Yeah I noticed," Nero grumbled before going silent.

The young man didn't try anything even though he wasn't restrained, just sat with his arms folded and his legs crossed, staring intently out the window. Every once in awhile his gaze would go distant as though in thought. Tony figured he'd given the young man an awful lot to think about.

The half-demon's blue eyes glanced up at his rearview mirror catching sight of the kid. "You hungry kid?"

Nero blinked, looking up. Lunch with Kyrie had been hours ago, the sky was starting to tint pink with the twilight, his stomach was running on empty. However just because he was a little willing to cooperate with this strange man didn't mean that he was putting all this faith in him or wanting to go along with all this. "No, I'm good." he replied, gazing back out the window.

Tony shrugged. "Suit yourself." he stated, rolling into a drive thru at some burger joint.

Nero tugged at the glove on his arm and tucked it under his human arm to block any glow that could be showing.

The young man felt his eyebrow quirking as he listened to Tony order a _lot_ of food. Six cheeseburgers, two large fries and two Cokes. He decided not to comment on it though, probably that demon thing had taken a lot out of him.

The older half-demon got the food and as soon as the scent of salty meat hit his nose Nero regretted not taking Tony up on his offer as his stomach growled. The agent pulled into a parking spot and started unpacking the food from the bag. Nero focused his attention out the window, until he heard paper rattle near his face, making him look over with a start. Tony was holding one of the paper wrapped burgers out to him, a smirk on his face.

Nero looked at him skeptically.

"Come on, I know you're hungry-and if you aren't now you're going to be later and you might as well eat while it's hot."

The young man took it, looking it over cautiously.

"What? You think in the two seconds I've had it I've drugged it or something?" he chuckled, passing back two more burgers, some fries and one of the Cokes.

"I don't know, I suppose you could. You were able to drug me pretty fast in the alley."

"You weren't looking at me, you don't know how long it took me to get that ready." he grinned, eating a few of the fries.

"Still. Not cool dude," he replied, offering the slightest of smirks in response as he started eating. The car went silent with stuffing their faces becoming the main priority.

Nero finished first and sipped lightly at his soda. "Thanks." he muttered.

"Welcome," he answered through a mouthful. "Gotta take care a' you, don't I?"

"I guess so, you did kidnap me." he said with a smirk.

The agent laughed.

Nero's grin fell and he chewed on his lip. "Tony."

"Yeah?"

He hesitated, looking out the window as he sipped some more at his empty drink. "I don't want to like…pry or anything…but something is bothering me."

Tony was paying attention. "…yeah?"

"When…you do that…well, that…demon thing…is…is it still you?"

"Hmm, no, that's a good question. That's the stuff I want to tell you about anyway so…um…yeah, short answer is yes, it's still me."

"What's the long answer?"

"Well, the long answer is that, more of the demon is in control than the human side. If you want to partition it that way. It's really kind of difficult to explain. Right now I'm sure that you think about it as…your demon 'side' or 'half' or something like that."

"Well, yeah isn't that what it is?"

"Not really, it's like being two sides of the same coin, one human and one demon, but the entire coin is you, see?"

The young man was looking at him as though he were crazy.

"I told you it's hard to explain," he grinned, putting the car into gear to head back out onto the highway.

"I don't think I get it," Nero muttered.

"I know, I didn't really either, it might not be something I can teach you explicitly."

"So…where are we going anyway?"

"A safe house. I gotta smooth some things over, and then we'll be running like silk."

"…What do you mean 'smooth some things over'?" he asked warily.

"I just gotta talk to some of my superiors, nothing big. Don't worry about it," he smiled in return. He seemed confident about it, but Nero couldn't kick the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

* * *

"How long will it take to pinpoint their base location?" Credo asked, words clipped as he spoke to the doctor.

"Around a week, t-t-that's the best way we can be sure."

The other man let out a long suffering sigh.

"It isn't my fault that your men didn't realize we had the s-s-son of S-Sparda in our grasp and let him get away. It was _my _idea to place a tracker in that b-b-boy."

"Nero," Credo muttered.

"What?"

"His name is Nero."

"Yes, yes," he stated waving his hand dismissively. "When I have learned the whereabouts of S-Sparda's blood will your men be able to…h-h-handle it?"

"Of course. I will capture Tony and return him so that we may power the Savior. It is the wish of His Holiness."

"I am aware, and you're sure this…N-N-Nero won't get in the way? He is descended from a rather-"

"I am well aware of his bloodline Agnus. Contact me when you know Tony's location and no sooner. To anyone you talk to we have sent Nero on a mission, not a word more," he hissed.

"You have my w-w-word. Who am I going to talk to?"

Credo grunted in agreement and walked away leaving the man alone in his lab. Agnus tapped away on one of his machines following the progress of Tony and Nero. It was quite unfortunate that his research had yielded only the results that Nero was unsuitable for powering the Savior. In his current state he was nowhere near powerful enough. In further research on other demons he hadn't found a way to increase the power levels without killing the subject. Unfortunately the being carrying the power would need to be alive to power the Savior.

Though most of this was a moot point anyway because Nero wasn't a descendant of Sparda's blood. It would be most preferable to resurrect their god with someone of his own blood. Agnus had been willing to attempt to make Nero a viable subject but Credo refused saying that people in town knew him and would become suspicious of his sudden disappearance. Agnus had his own theories that perhaps it was because of Credo's…attachment to the boy.

Whatever the case, His Holiness' plan would be enacted, they just needed the correct blood, and that belonged to Tony Redgrave.

* * *

Sorry it took so long ya'll, I did warn you. I think I've worked a few of the kinks out. The problem I'm really having isn't the plot. I know what is going on and such, it's just working out scenes for this story is taking a little while. The first scenes I blew through easily and now I'm into unexplored territory XD

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed, please leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth June 28, 2012


	7. Chapter 7

The Company CHAPTER 7

surrendertome: Yeah, all the changes ff is making are crazy! Yes, the Order low jacked Nero XD In the original storyline Nero is related to Sparda, however for this I decided to change it so that he's descended from a less well-known and less powerful demon :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Blood of Dusk: The plot is certainly thickening, though it's going to be a little slow going, I gotta do some character building in the next few chapters :3 The interaction between the guys is fun to write, really :3 Credo and Agnus just seem uptight around each other to me. Agnus seems to be screaming for attention and Credo just seems to ignore him unless he's up in his face XD I'm not sure where Credo and Agnus are going in this story, so we'll see about future dialogue :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Nero is a TINY bit more comfortable with Tony XD The Order suspect that it's Tony that took Nero, they've done their homework to the best of their ability :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Maybe Sparda did betray his whole kind for the love of Eva, but I don't think he met her until AFTER the whole demon world was closed. Don't quote me on that ;3 Yeah, Tony is definitely going to have some problems with his superiors about adopting poor, forlorn Nero XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Nefarious Seraph 13: Their getting along isn't going to last too long XD Definitely got burgers because it worked better in this story than ordering in a pizza. I'll make sure Dante gets a pizza later on ;3 Not sure when Nero is going to find out about the tracker, but it sure will be interesting when he does! XD Yeah, I decided there was no way in this universe to give Nero Sparda's blood :3 He also doesn't have his DT yet because he hasn't encountered Yamato or another devil arm yet. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: I don't know what fan fiction is doing, is crazy! I'm glad you like where I'm taking the plot seeing as I only have it half-fleshed out in my mind right now XD I love the banter, too much fun :3 Also, they won't be getting along for long ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Neko Chan the Dark: The two are definitely on some better terms, but Nero is still pretty wary! Things aren't going to be quite as smooth sailing as one might think though ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Yeah the changes are kinda annoying, right? Yeah, Tony made the right move by giving it to Nero straight, it builds up his rapport a little. Credo has been Nero's brother for a long while :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Yeah, I guess that I'm not the only one getting annoyed with all the sudden changes by fan fiction. They haven't done any major changes in like years and suddenly they're changing everything right! The color scheme, the way the text is laid out and the review and alert systems :/ I can't figure it out.

Anywho, hope you guys enjoy this chapter :3

* * *

Nero couldn't help dozing for most of the rest of the ride, he was full and his body was just begging him to sleep. The highways didn't invite him to take interest in much of anything except the occasional sign trying to figure out where he was being taken. He was roused fully when they started off the highway into a city. He figured that they must be close to wherever it was they were going.

"Tony?" he asked as though something had just occurred to him.

"You awake back there kid?" the agent teased.

"Yeah, yeah. Who is it that you're working for? What did they send you after me for?"

"Well...I guess someone got tipped off about that arm of yours and called me in. I handle all the demon cases, I have sort of a leg up on the competition."

Nero looked perplexed at this fact. "Tipped off? So like…someone told them."

"Well, that's my best guess. I can't tell you who I'm working for, but they're kinda hushy types. I doubt someone would have just found you out there on that island without some real good reason. Why? Who knows about your arm?"

The young male didn't answer, and decided to change the subject. "So you're the one who takes care of the demon problems?"

"I'm the top source," he replied letting the switch in topic stand. "I'm the best at what I do, but I have a partner."

"That woman who was in the car with you."

"You saw her, eh?" he smirked. "Yeah, she's my partner, she was good even without my help. Better at some things than me too."

"So you're a demon hunter too…and that's what you want me to do?"

"If you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, yeah."

Nero nodded in assent and Tony pulled the car over to the side of the road in front of an old brick building. The area they were in didn't appear to be the greatest part of town and it sort of worried the kid, he'd never really been to a place like this. The agent killed the engine with a yawn and got out of the car, looping around to open the door for Nero seeing that the back doors didn't open from the inside.

The young devil quirked an eyebrow. "So…what is this place?" he asked as he followed the older man up to the building.

"A safe house," he answered simply.

"…In the middle of the ghetto?" he said doubtfully.

"You wouldn't guess it would you?" he said cheerfully, unlocking the large double doors and flicking on the lights.

The room was fairly spacious with two large windows that would usually let in light but seeing the time of day all they did was filter in dirty streetlamps. There was an old pool table off to the left side near the stairs, under the stairs were a couple of worn looking sofas, a coffee table and television. On the right side of the room there were a few old, but seemingly taken care of instruments including a guitar and drum set. There was a bar tucked away in the back corner, and a damaged jukebox near the front window. It appeared to the young man that there was probably a kitchen and bathroom in the back, and a couple of bedrooms upstairs-at most. The strangest thing about the place however was that there were weapons lining the walls of all sorts of different shapes, sizes and types. Duel blades, nunchaku, and a few huge double-edged swords, as well as some guns in a case on the back wall.

Nero frowned as he took the place in, it wasn't very clean either, a few old pizza boxes were dumped here and there as well as old papers and beer bottles. "Who did you have staying here before? A bunch of frat boys?"

Tony laughed, "Sure, close enough." It was funny because this was Dante's place, but he couldn't let Nero know this was where he lived off duty, another 'no-no' with the CIA, but he didn't really have anywhere he could safely take the kid. Thinking about it he really chafed under those damn rules. He hated keeping his identity secret, hated not living by his own rules, but…how else was he suppose to draw in income? Sure he did some jobs on the side-sometimes he even made some cash but he really only did it to help people that needed help.

Nero was shaking his head a little and still looking around, obviously this hadn't been what he expected, but that was okay. The kid had probably never been off that island, what was he suppose to be expecting anyway?

"Come on kid, let's check out that leg of yours," he suggested, clapping a hand on the young man's shoulder.

Nero looked over swiftly at the touch and gave a stiff nod in agreement. Tony gave a reassuring smile.

"Let me find you something to wear that might be easier to reach your knee through," he suggested, heading up the stairs.

Nero took a few steps further into the large room, running his hand along the edge of the pool table as he passed it. He was really interested in the weapons. Why would they need so many? Then again if this was a safe house whoever was here might need protecting…but the weapons…man, it was almost as if they were calling to him. He strode over to a pair of duel swords one red and one blue the edges serrated. He glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Tony wasn't coming. When he assured himself the agent was still upstairs he licked his lips and lightly touched the strange little face on the red sword.

"Hey!" The _sword_ protested, it's little mouth even moving!

Nero let out a short scream of surprise and jumped back.

"This one is quick brother," the blue one chimed in.

"What the hell?" Nero breathed.

"You seem surprised for one who is not human," the red one again.

"I am human," he was still clinging to that idea even if the opposite had been flung in his face all day.

"Very-oh!" he blue one quickly cut off and was silent making Nero frown in confusion.

"Hey-"

"Yeah they talk."

Nero whipped around in surprise at Tony's voice.

"Oh-I-um," he stuttered trying to figure out what to say or ask. "How is it that they talk?"

"They're devil arms-demons that have agreed to work with me," he answered holding out a pair of black sweatpants. "Here, go change," he suggested and Nero noticed in his other hand he had something like a medical kit.

"I don't think that's gonna be necessary-that kit thing. My knee stopped hurting hours ago, thanks for asking by the way," he snorted taking the clothes.

"Ah, I figured you were a big boy and could handle it, my bad kid." he taunted him, getting a sneer in response from the young man as he walked to the back to the bathroom to change. Tony turned his attention to his weapons on the wall. "I thought I told you two not to talk."

"We are sorry, we were confused by the young man."

"Yeah alright, just keep a lid on it, alright? The kid is kinda new to all this stuff."

The swords seemed to agree in their silence.

Tony looked over as Nero reappeared, he had his coat and jeans draped over one arm but was wearing the rest of his clothes, his hoodie, undershirt, sweats and boots.

The older half-devil couldn't help his laugh. "Take your shoes off, stay awhile-or are you hiding something there too?"

The knight felt his face flush. "No, I just don't want to step on a needle and get AIDS or something."

"Alright, alright, let's see that knee of yours." he said gesturing over to the couches on one side of the room.

Nero made his way over and plunked himself down before rolling up his pant leg showing a smear of blood crusted on his knee and calf. Tony crouched in front of him and wiped his thumb across the stain, as he did he felt more of it on the back of his leg.

"Oh, I got a clean through and through, no wonder you were able to start running again."

"Yeah-you thought there was still a bullet in me?"

"Not anymore obviously, your healing would have pushed it out."

"…Really?" he wondered, surprised.

"Yeah…you haven't been shot before?"

"Not before today. No one else in Fortuna uses guns, I guess they think they're too volatile or something," he shrugged.

"Or just not honorable," Tony mumbled, his eyes looking kind of distant for a moment.

"Yeah, maybe…are you okay?"

"Sure I am kid!" he chirped, once again chipper, as he rolled back up to his feet. "Stay put, I'll be right back."

Nero watched him disappear into the back again with a frown. He still wasn't sure what to think about this. Was Tony trying to convince him that being a demon was a _good _thing? It didn't add up in his mind. Demons were evil, mindless destroyers. What good could possibly come from that? And what about whoever this guy was working for? What did they want from him?

Tony reappeared and tossed a wet washcloth at his face, the fabric making a 'splat' sound as he grabbed it out of the air.

"Thanks," he muttered, cleaning the sanguine off his leg, a little bit surprised that there wasn't even a mark from the wound that had been there. The older male took it back when he was finished and threw it in the general direction of the bathroom.

"Alright kid, let's get you set up and go to bed. I got some things to do tomorrow so I need to hit the hay."

"Will you stop calling me kid already? My name is Nero," he said hotly, as he got up to follow.

"I'll stop calling you kid when you prove to me you're not a kid." he smirked over his shoulder as he headed up the stairs. The knight glared and grasped at his left hip for his gun-only to remember that it wasn't there. Tony stopped and turned around, he held his hands up and curled them in a 'come on' gesture. "If you got something to prove then do it. Sooner we sort this out the better."

"Sort what out?" Nero asked.

"This whole dominance game. No trigger, no drugs, no weapons, if you want to go then let's do it."

Nero took a few steps back, and gave a mock bow. "Shall we dance?"

The older man smirked. "Trying to bait me to action? I suggest you take that glove off first, you're going to want that thing if you're going to stand a chance against me," he stated, swaggering back down the stairs.

Nero threw down the clothes on his arm and rolled the glove off his bringer giving the man his first real good look at it. It was mostly covered in red scales with some blue and a bright blue light emanating from the back of his forearm and hand, as well as glowing from his entire palm.

"That thing is so cool," Tony grinned.

Nero faltered. Did he really believe that? He thought the freakish arm was cool? "Don't try to distract me-it's not gonna stop me from kicking your ass."

He chuckled. "Whatever you say, kid, whatever you say."

* * *

Oh, boys will be boys! :3 The guys are going to duke it out next chapter, so leave me a review! Also, hope you enjoyed the banter and the appearance of Agni and Rudra! :3 Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth July 4, 2012

P.S. To all my American peeps, Happy Independence Day_!_


	8. Chapter 8

The Company CHAPTER 8

L. K. Heinrich: I totally agree, the whole Sparda timeline is very janky. I'd like to know what caused him to turn against them as well :3 Nero wants to cling to the idea that he's human. Being a demon is a real bad thing in Fortuna :3 Yep, there was a moment of thought for Vergil, Vergil is a good part of Dante's motivation. Nevan may very well show up, as well as some other devil arms :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Nero does want to get the upper hand on Dante, but…well, we'll see what happens! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Yep, fight scene in this chapter! :3 Being on the defensive for the first move always seems like a prudent idea :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: I love Agni and Rudra-I don't actually like to use them much in 3 but their fight is awesome! XD I haven't figured out if they're going to be together or not. I'd like to get them together, but honestly, they're not writing themselves that way right now XD They're still on pretty shaky grounds, so we'll see :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Shirosenshi Kisetsu 116: Wow you have a long name! XD Any meaning behind it? Glad you like the rest of the story so far :3 I'm enjoying it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: I don't like a lot of changes that ff is making recently. I rather enjoyed the status quo. The banter between the boys is always fun :3 Agni and Rudra are also awesome, I don't use them much as weapons but they are my favorite devil arm to write about! XD Yep, hand to hand fighting to see who is the more dominant :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I've been on a roll recently so I hope you guys are ready for this chapter! :3 Remember I don't own the characters and I'm not intending to infringe on copyright laws :3

* * *

Nero clenched his right hand a growl starting to reverberate in his throat. He kept backing away as Tony approached.

"Come on kid, you talk the talk, let's see you walk the walk. I know you got it in you."

The knight stopped retreating, his hands balled to fists. The older devil continued forward, his hands loose at his sides. He was ready for it when Nero took a swing at him with the bringer and ducked to one side, grabbing his wrist and twisting it back around behind his back where he moved to stand. Nero gasped in surprise at his strength as he struggled against him for a moment, before kicking out his foot and hooking it behind the agent's knees making them buckle. As he began to fall the knight shoved himself backwards to help the process and threw himself into Tony's chest, driving the breath out of his lungs and allowing his hold to loosen. Nero started to take the opportunity to get free when the older man shoved him up, helping him to perform a flip over the agent's head.

He landed on his knees with a grunt, not given enough momentum to land on his feet. Tony spun up from his position on his back, only to take the punch he'd avoided earlier and fly backwards, hitting the wall with a grunt.

Ow. That kind of hurt. Man, it was time to get serious with this kid!

Nero was smirking slightly as the stalked forward. Tony took the time to rub at his jaw. "Good right hook, kid, that actually kinda hurt."

"Thing sure packs a punch, don't it?" he grinned, opening his demonic hand, preparing to grab for the agent. As soon as he did however all he hit was wall-Tony was gone. That fast? Where did he go?

A gasp was wretched from his throat as he was grabbed behind the neck and thrown across the room and down to the ground like a rag doll. Tony covered the room in what looked like two flashes and was on top of him, straddling his hips. He bucked, a growl tearing out of his throat, so fierce that it surprised himself-would have terrified him if he wasn't so set on getting the half-demon off of him. His arm flickered and looked as though it was sparking.

"Come on kid, pull out all the stops. Show me what you can do," the agent baited him. Nero's arm burst to life with something that looked like blue flame and swung with his claws spread wide as through the was going to gut him with just his arm. Then Tony was gone again and he only caught air. Another snarl of frustration was ripped from his throat as he saw Tony a few feet away.

"How are you doing that! ?" he demanded, shoving himself to his feet.

Tony smirked widely. "I'm just a bit of a trickster."

Just like that the agent was in front of him again, Nero inhaled sharply and tried to stumble back, lifting his hands to ward him away. Tony unleashed a punch that sent the kid reeling into the wall, cracking open the drywall and showing the slats. The knight licked the blood off his split lip and cringed, however the red devil wasn't done yet. He approached and lifted the young man by his throat, until his toes didn't touch the floor.

Nero grabbed at his wrist and squirmed, but his head was pounding and the blood was flowing freely from his lip, the older man's eyes had taken on a crimson tint as he smiled. Panic bloomed in the knight's stomach and he clawed at Tony's arm drawing out bright scarlet rivers.

"T-agh-Tony!" he choked out. The older man released him and he fell to the floor on his ass, gasping for air and backpedaling a few inches until he hit the wall. He put a hand to his bruising neck, swallowing as he stared at the older demon, feeling contempt and envy vying for his attention over terror.

The agent's eyes had returned to blue and the grin was gone. "Hey, you okay?"

The ghostly appendage of Nero's bringer was his response as he was thrown clear across the shop, his body slamming into the bar and smashing it into the wall, his neck snapping backwards with the force. He crumpled forward, hitting the floor and letting out a soft groan as he put his hands out to get off the hardwood. Goddamn the kid had some serious stamina, he didn't expect him to get up after that, let alone with a whammy like _that!_

He heard the boots on the hard floor and twisted to his feet to find Nero charging at him, bringer open wide. He dodged out of the way with a quick roll before twirling his body, using his legs to knock Nero's knees out from under him. His head hit the floor with a bang and the world went black.

He groggily came back to a few minutes later. Tony was on top of him again which was really no big surprise. His knees were on either side of his hips, his legs twined around his thighs to further restrict movement and his wrists were pinned up above his pounding, fucking skull.

He let out a moan of pain, and didn't struggle. "Get off me, I'm down okay?"

"Had to make sure you didn't get up swinging, spitfire." he smirked.

"Fuck me. How are you so strong? How are you so fast?"

"Mostly experience. I can teach you, just not now," he smirked tiredly, leaning back off the young man's arms. "First thing you need to work out for yourself is how you're going to cope with being a demon." Nero opened his mouth to protest, but Tony continued. "You are a demon. There's no doubt about that, Nero. What you need to decide is what you're going to do with it. I've chosen to fight demons and save people. My brother tried to gain more power and unleash hell on humans to get it."

Nero was sent speechless. He hadn't known such a thing were possible.

"I know it's a lot to swallow right now, but…this is one of those things I can't help you with, and we can't continue until you figure it out," he explained, climbing off the younger male and holding out a hand to help him up. Nero put forth his bringer without thinking and Tony's hand clasped around it without hesitation. They both smiled slightly, Nero feeling warmth rush to his cheeks as he was hauled easily to his feet. The world spun for a few moments and the older male made sure he didn't fall.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

"It's all good, you put up one hell of a fight man. That's saying something, I've fought demons ten times my size and with three heads before."

"Brag about it, why don't you?" he chuckled.

"Come on, I'll show you the sp-room, the room that you can sleep in," he made sure to cut himself off before saying 'spare room' he couldn't afford to let Nero know this was actually his home, so it was just a room.

Nero quirked and eyebrow, but didn't question him as he was led up the stairs.

* * *

The young half demon was alone in his room, looking around as well as he could with the reflected light from the window and his bringer combined. It was a new, strange place, and he just couldn't sleep. The room that he was in was much cleaner than the rest of the place, the floor was hardwood with a single, old plush rug in the center. The bed was a regular single with a nightstand with a lamp and his extra clothes resting there. The rest of the room was mostly barren, there was a closet with a few wire hangers but other than that it felt…empty and cold.

He pulled the blankets tighter around himself and laid on his side. His headache was slowly drifting away which was a blessing because after his day, he had no idea where to start processing, but he was going to need all facilities running at full speed to be able to do anything.

The first was if he should even trust Tony. He wasn't sure he was who he said he was…however everything he'd done suggested he was at least the son of a demon-if not the son of Sparda it was at least a possibility. It could be that the older man really wanted to teach him just because he was the only other half-devil he'd ever met. He really had to trust him for now. He wasn't even holding that scuffle downstairs against him seeing as it was just…he really hated admitting it but it was just plain…_satisfying._ It felt amazing to let go like that, it was how he'd wanted to fight against Credo, all out, pushing hard to win. He didn't have to do that with the meager demons he fought, he could go all out, but by the time he started pushing himself they were through.

He sighed and held up his arm in the blackness of the room, his eyes struggling against the brightness it emitted. Could he learn to live with this thing? He supposed he would have to, Tony said it wasn't going to go away and he'd decided to trust the agent. So, did this make him a demon? Technically he supposed it did, but…demons were more than just a sack of armor. They craved power, that much was evident from the persistent voice in the back of his mind., but they also craved that which brought pain to humans, their chaotic emotions. Fear, jealousy, pride, hatred, rage, gluttony, greed, lust, pain. He didn't think he needed that. Then again he did perhaps enjoy that fight with Tony a little too much, but he wasn't going to go out of his way to hurt people. He could…he could do what he'd always done. Help people by killing demons.

The thought of returning to the status quo comforted him. Not that it seemed likely to be happening anytime soon. It was enough to get him to start drifting off into black oblivion.

* * *

Hope you guys enjoyed the fight! I really had fun writing it anyway :3 Next chapter we see Dante handling his superiors at the CIA and also a special guest appearance ;3 Leave me a review!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth July 8, 2012


	9. Chapter 9

The Company CHAPTER 9

SirenaLoreley: Yeah, Nero always has fire! Dante is usually just a little better! :3 As they go Nero is trusting Dante more because he's being straightforward and telling the truth-or as much of it as he can anyway :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Blood of Dusk: The special guests in this chapter are fun to work with, so I hope you enjoy them! :3 I fixed the errors you pointed out, so thank you once again! Hope it's easier to understand now! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: There was a little bit of Royalguard tossed into the fight as well, but like you said, Trickster is a bit more flashy, so he noticed it :3 Tony will have to get the damage fixed himself since it's his fault and his problem, he's not going to be compensated for the damages! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Shirosenshi Kisetsu 116: Glad you liked the fight, I have to work hard to make them convincing :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Guest(1): Yes, Nero got away with saying 'fuck me' XD There were more important things to say so Tony ignored it :3 Nero got his head banged around a few times, but I think he can handle it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Guest(2): I always think it's more believable when Nero gets in a few good hits himself :3 Definitely more suspenseful at the very least. I'm exploring their devil sides a lot in this story, so I hope you enjoy it! :3 Nero certainly has a long battle ahead of him with dealing with that need for more power :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus: Yeah, ff is driving me nuts too. Really glad that you liked the action scene, it was a lot of fun to write making Dante surprised that Nero could hold his own a little :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Devil Fan: Nero is always riled up XD and Dante seems to underestimate quite a few people, so, no surprise there either :D Nero hasn't quite made it to 'partner' status, maybe 'protégé' XD He still has to get through the paperwork! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Thanks for all the support you guys! Hit a bit of a road block on the next chapter, but I'm working on it, so don't worry, just needed a few days off I think :3 Enjoy the chapter, I think it's a pretty good one! ;3

* * *

Tony's red, leather trench coat stood out like a beacon as he strolled into the CIA headquarters. Most of the agents gave him two glances before recognizing his white hair and face and ignoring him. He made his way up to the higher offices where he stopped at a modern glass desk where a young woman sat. Her brown hair was pulled back in a tight bun and sharp angled glasses gave her face a severe look. Her brown eyes looked over him disapprovingly even as he flashed her his friendliest smile.

"Hell-o Tanya," he began flirtatiously.

"I'm in no mood for your antics Tony. If you've finished your assignment, where is your report?"

"About that-paperwork and I, we just don't get along with each other. I think it's best if we just avoid each other. I need to speak with Grue directly."

She eyed him suspiciously. Tony had a tendency to go to the director when he did something unacceptable. "What is the purpose of this visit?"

"His ears only babe. You know he'll see me, just buzz him or whatever would you?"

She looked ready to deck him for daring to step in her meticulously detailed world and mess it up-or maybe it was because he called her 'babe.' She jabbed the button on her phone and put the receiver to her ear.

"Tony is here to see you sir."

Something was said on the other end of the line and Tanya looked irritated before she hung up and buzzed for the young man to be allowed into the hall.

"Thanks babe," he grinned, waltzing off down the hallway. He was such a lady killer.

He came to the director's door and rapped his knuckles against it, getting a gruff 'come in' in response.

The man at the desk was in his late forties, though his deep lined face made him seem older. His body was still in peak physical condition his dark hair buzz cut with silver running through it. The room smelled like cigarette smoke and peppermint gum. Grue was currently battling the stack of paperwork on his desk. He'd come a long way since bringing the child-devil into the company. He was the one who'd gotten Dante out of the foster system and into the CIA. He was the one Dante always went to when he was in trouble. Tony cared about him almost as though he were a parent.(1)

"What did you do now Tony?" he wondered gruffly.

"Can't I just come by and see my mentor?" he asked innocently.

"Of course you could, but that's not why you're here." The man's eyes examined his face. "Has anyone told you about your partner?"

Tony blinked. "What? What happened to Lady?"

"Minor car accident-just a bit of whiplash, but she's under observation for further injury. She's off the job for the next few weeks."

"Oh," he mumbled.

"Yeah 'oh.' She won't give us her report. I'm assuming that means that that's why you're here," he explained, pulling out a cigarette and lighting it up.

Tony waved his hand irritably.

"Gee, am I bothering you?" Grue asked sarcastically.

"I don't do cigarettes. You enjoy destroying your lungs?"

"About as much as you like devastating your liver," he chuckled with the tone of a well rehearsed argument. "So tell me what you did."

Tony took a deep breath. "You're not gonna like it."

"But you did it anyway."

"I did what you wanted and investigated the target in Fortuna," he began haltingly, not sure of how to explain why he did what he'd done. "I-uh…discovered that he had a demon arm after pursuing him."

"Is he dangerous?"

"Extremely, gave me a good fight," he smirked.

"You killed him didn't you?"

"No…uh, kind of the opposite. He's a half-demon-like me Grue."

"Dante, what did you do?"

"I want to teach him," the young man continued.

"What did you _do_?" he repeated.

"I didn't do anything!" Tony quickly protested. "I just want to take him under my wing, you know? Help him out with the devil stuff."

Grue sighed. "Tony, I realize that you feel…betrayed after the Temen-Ni Gru case, but you said yourself that he's dangerous. It's better to neutralize him."

"No, he's still human. I won't kill him and neither will Lady," he said, voice pure ice.

"How do you know that? What did you do with him?"

"I brought him back-"

"You _kidnapped him_?" he sighed in agitation, taking a long puff of his cigarette apparently to try to calm himself.

"He's agreed to help us if I teach him-"

"You barely have control of _yourself_ I can't have two uncontrollable half-devils under my watch."

Tony set his jaw. "I'm not going to let him end up like…my brother. Lady is out of commission for now. I need a partner."

"I'll assign you Bridgette,"

"She hates my guts. I don't like working with anyone but Lady. Let me work with Nero. Consider it a trial run. I'm the only one capable of evaluating him-"

"You're emotionally compromised."

"Grue!" he snapped, his eyes blazing. "Don't. Don't do this. Give me this, please. Let me see if he can be trusted. If I can help him."

The director sighed and stubbed out his smoke. He steepled his fingers in thought. "You have until Lady recovers and I want a full report of _everything_ that happens every week."

Tony nodded sharply. "Thank you."

"Don't make me regret this Tony."

"I won't."

* * *

Nero yawned and rubbed his eyes, flinching away from the sunlight that was spilling into them. For a moment he didn't realize where he was then he sighed and become conscious of the fact yesterday wasn't a dream. He twisted and laid his feet onto the hard floor, snarling another yawn. He needed coffee, or soda, or something with caffeine.

He stood up and headed downstairs, figuring that it was safe enough, he hadn't noticed any needles on the floor thankfully. He stumbled off down the stairs, looking up only when he heard a noise. He saw a woman with red hair and sickly looking skin-who was about half-naked quickly making Nero avert his gaze and hold his hands up to block his line of sight.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I had no idea-I was uh…looking for Tony," he said, his face getting very hot. He heard the woman moving and hoped that she was going to get some clothes on. Instead he felt cool hands touching his own, moving them away from his face. He jumped back in surprise and swiftly moved away from her.

"My, my, what a handsome boy you are," she cooed, following after him.

"Uh, um…thanks, I guess. Uh…who are you-exactly?" he asked, sure he was about beet red from the roots of his hair to his collarbone at this point.

"Oh, how rude of me. My name is Nevan."

"It's uh…nice to meet you?" he mumbled, uncertainly, casting his gaze about for Tony. Why the hell would this woman be here?

She was on him again in a moment and he gasped as she jerked his arms down, gazing into his eyes with her own red hues. She pulled herself closer to him, pressing her rather generous breasts up against his chest. He felt a fire start blazing in his belly and his mouth went dry.

"Do I have a _virgin_ on my hands?" the female asked, a wicked grin forming on her face. If Nero could have gotten any redder, he would have. "Have you even been kissed?"

The knight couldn't find any words to respond, didn't even comprehend the question. The demoness took his silence as a 'no.'

"Oh, how fun. I'll be your first," she whispered, leaning forward. Their breath mingled and Nero felt his mind become clouded with a consuming lust.

"Nevan!" the voice was as loud as a gunshot and the woman jerked back. The young man leaning forward a little as if to get her to come back. "I'm sure the kid doesn't want his first and last kiss with a demon who's going to suck his soul right out of his body."

She let out a deep throated laugh. "That's for him to decide, isn't it?" she asked, her hand caressing the side of the boy's face. Nero was completely absorbed in everything she did until Tony pulled out his white handgun and fired. The woman quickly became a purple guitar, the top looking suspiciously like a scythe.

Nero blinked and looked over at the older half-demon, his face warming again as embarrassment zinged through him. He had just been assaulted by a demon and he would've gotten his soul sucked out if Tony hadn't come along. It didn't matter that it was early in the morning, he should be ready anytime. He turned a bit and walked towards the destroyed bar so Tony couldn't see the…ahem 'effect' Nevan had had on him.

"You alright, kid? Guessing that's your first encounter with a succubus," the red devil commented as he walked over and picked the guitar off the floor.

"Yeah," he grumbled. "I thought that you were a devil hunter, not a collector."

"Well, I'm a little of both," he confided with a gentle smile as he coaxed a few chords from Nevan's lightning strings.

"I just was looking for some coffee or, whatever," the knight said, rubbing the back of his head as he glanced over his shoulder at the older male.

Tony gave a knowing smirk and nodded. "Right. I'll go start some, if you want to use the shower it's back there, I'll scrounge up a clean towel for you."

Nero wished his face would stop flushing. "Thanks."

* * *

After his shower the kid got dressed and a steaming mug of black coffee was placed in his hands. He gratefully breathed in the coils of steam and took a sip. It was cheap stuff, but that was okay, it was what he was used to buying for himself.

"So what's with the getup?" he asked, looking over the long red leather trench coat, matching pants, black chaps, cowboy boots and a black shirt.

"These are my normal clothes," he answered innocently.

"Those? Well…they seem more comfortable on you than the suit."

"Don't you know, ladies love the suit," he chuckled.

"I don't. Stresses me out. So, where did you go this morning?" he wondered.

"I had to go talk to some of the higher-ups where I work and they gave me the all clear to start teaching you whatever I think is necessary."

Nero felt a tremor flicker through his body. His devil 'side' thing whispering in excitement that this bigger, experienced devil was offering to give them more power-and he _wanted_ it. He figured it was okay to accept help from Tony, but damn this was a good feeling. What if someone else offered him power? Would it be like this every time? Would he be able to resist it?

He pushed all that away for the moment so he could focus on the present.

"Okay then, I'm ready. I want to learn."

"I'm sure you do. Did you think about what I mentioned?"

"Yeah. If I'm a devil, like you say…then at the very least I want to use it to protect people. I don't want to be...eaten alive by this need for power."

"That's good. You got the will kid, if you stick to it, you can fight it."

"But, there is something that bothers me," he admitted.

"What's that?"

"Sparda turned against his own side and sealed apart the human and the demon worlds, right?"

"That's the legend, yeah," he agreed.

"Then where did _I _come from? I'm not a son of Sparda like you, and if Sparda sealed the two worlds apart…" he trailed off frowning in confusion.

"Well, if you're not a son of Sparda, then you must be the son of another demon, though the worlds being sealed apart might pose a problem on that front. Unless my father wasn't the only demon who stayed in the human world."

There was a deep rumbling growl that seemed to come from everywhere in the office and Nero warily looked around as a voice spoke. "Sparda was not the only one who rebelled, only the most notorious."

* * *

(1) For those of you who have read the novel you know who Grue is. For the rest of you, Grue is basically a mercenary who works with Tony in the novel. I wanted to use a character from the universe, so hope you like him :3

This chapter is EXTREMELY long! XD So I hope that you guys like it, and I hope at least a few of you recognized Grue, let me know if you did! Leave me a review and kick my butt into gear for the next chapter! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth July 16, 2012


	10. Chapter 10

The Company CHAPTER 10

SirenaLoreley: Yep, Grue is sort of used to Tony's antics XD You'll see who's talking! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ebony Redgrave: I know ): I really liked Grue too. Never a dull moment in Tony's place! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: At first I didn't know who Badley and Angelina were XD Honestly knowledge of the animated series is my weakest spot. :3 It's probably true it is a viable source, but I had something else in mind here :3 Nothing related to the universe I took some creative liberties. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: Geeze! Yeah, I couldn't figure out who you guys were last chapter! Glad I could figure it out this time! It still had you as 'Guest' Glad you like the details, I try my best! :3 Nero has never met a succubus especially one as talented as Nevan! Took him a bit off guard! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: You're welcome! Nevan just sort of fit :3 Nero is gonna learn all kinds of things-hands on! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ice4blood: Yep, you caught me! :3 I wanted to give a bit of a tribute to the novel so I took directly from the novel the conversation about smoking :3 The thing about DmC is that it's an AU. Dante smoking is one of those things that differs so much from his original character that it really ticked people off. I think that they've dropped that at this point. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

ZekeRhi: I'm going to talk a little bit about the other rebel demons, but not much :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: I'm glad you liked last chapter :3 I always gotta leave you hanging! Tony is gonna teach Nero a lot, don't you worry! I love Nevan, Agni and Rudra character-wise :3 Too much fun to play with. Alastor unfortunately won't be able to appear because the events of DMC1 wouldn't have happened yet ): Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

UGGGGH! It is hotter than ballz here people. XD I hate it sooo much! It's bouncing between 79 and 80 in my bedroom right now at 11:30 pm and 70% humidity. Someone kill me plz.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the chapter :3

* * *

_There was a deep rumbling growl that seemed to come from everywhere in the office and Nero warily looked around as a voice spoke. "Sparda was not the only one who rebelled, only the most notorious."_

"I thought that my father was," Tony said, perplexed.

"Boy, do you think one demon-even one as powerful as Sparda could take down the entire army and Mundus alone? Sparda was the second in command of all demons. He was powerful and had many allies. These he used to form the resistance to the emperor. Sparda did much of the work himself, defeating Mundus and sealing the demon world, but he could not have done it on his own."

"Who is talking?" Nero asked.

"Come on out Cerberus," Tony said, waving his hand. The nunchaku on the wall glowed a bright blue and then a large, black, three-headed canine appeared in the room.

"Whoa," the knight mumbled. "So Sparda didn't work alone, so…you're saying I come from one of the ones that helped him?"

"Most of those that helped Sparda returned to the demon world, all but his own second in command Choronzon. It must be he who sired you if not Sparda," the dog snarled.

Nero looked distant and thoughtful as he had yesterday. So, not only was he the descendent of a demon, it was one that had helped Sparda. If a full demon-more than one even, it seemed-had turned against their instincts to help humanity…

It suddenly seemed much easier for him to accomplish when he thought of it that way. He was human, at least in part.

"Well, there you go kid, I guess that you got your answer."

"I suppose I did," he agreed, scratching at his nose, shyly.

"Get on out of here Cerberus. I got some teaching to do."

The dog nodded obediently and returned to its weapon form.

"I'm not going to lie. The weapons are really cool, but the way they turn into demons totally freaks me out," Nero smirked, still sipping at the cooling coffee in his hand.

Tony laughed. "Yeah, you'll get used to them though."

The two lapsed into a comfortable silence until Nero finished his morning injection of life.

"So what are you going to teach me?" he wondered, putting his mug onto the coffee table.

"Lots of stuff," he answered dismissively and Nero once again felt excitement zing through his body like a lightning bolt. "Just not right now."

"Why not?" he wondered, trying to mask his disappointment.

"I'm lazy," he grinned and Nero laughed lightly.

"Okay, but later, right?"

"Of course! I do have a-request, I suppose you'd call it."

"What's that?"

"Can I see your arm?"

The teen quirked an eyebrow and held his left arm, making Tony chuckle and shake his head. Nero looked even more confused as he flexed his bringer a little and held it out.

"My devil arm?"

"Yeah. If it's okay with you, of course."

"Sure," he agreed with a shrug. Agnus had poked and prodded it everywhere. Tony couldn't do worse.

The older male put his hand under Nero's wrist to support it, his blue hues devouring the curves and ridges. He traced a finger over the rough armor on the outside, glancing at the knight.

"Can you feel that?"

"No," he said with a shake of his head.

Tony moved to very carefully touch the glowing skin underneath. Nero twitched in response. The brush was so gentle he was unaccustomed to it. He was used to the demanding, exploring gropes and pokes of a mad scientist.

"Sorry," the agent apologized, pulling back, thinking he'd hurt the young male.

"Nah, it's cool. While we're talking about show and tell though…would you let me see you…?" he trailed off as if afraid to ask.

"My devil trigger?"

"Yeah," he agreed slowly.

"Suppose so, but if we're doing show and _tell_ then why don't you tell me what you can do with this thing," he said, his own eyes were bright with interest and Nero felt a bit of…well _pride_ for this damn thing that had swallowed up his arm and drove him crazy.

"Well…mostly what I've shown you already. I can grab things, smash things, hit really hard and throw really big things if I use that ghostly thing you've seen I think."

"Could you…say, grab that can over there on the floor?" Tony asked, pointing to a crushed beer can next to the trash bin, as if it hadn't quite made it.

Nero looked at it, shrugging and shaking his head at the same time. "I've never reached that far. I don't think I can."

"Come on kid! Think positive! Haven't you ever heard that story with the train? I think I can?"

Nero stared at him as though he were high.

"You poor child, you've been refused the classics," he sighed forlornly. "Anyway, just give it a try, I think you can do it."

"…okay." He frowned a little and held his arm towards the can. Anxiety washed over him and the light shot out, made it halfway across the room and snapped back to him, making him stumble a step. He flushed in embarrassment and scratched at the bridge of his nose.

"Try again," the older demon encouraged him.

"What?"

"Try it again. I'm sure you can reach farther than that, and if you can't now, it's possible that if you keep practicing you'll be able to at some point."

Nero tilted his head and looked over at the can once again as it began to dawn on him that Tony was trying to teach him. It wasn't quite the direct step-by-step teaching atmosphere he'd been expecting, but he should probably stop expecting the norm from the son of Sparda.

He tried again. And again. And again, until he was about to turn around and slug the older man if he suggested he try once more. He didn't, just watched him contemplatively until he swallowed down his frustration.

"That's probably more than enough," he smirked instead. "So, why don't I show you mine now?"

"And don't forget about the telling part either," the young man reminded.

"Of course!" His smile was like basking in the afternoon sun, warm and bright. Then there was a real bright flash, this one red and Tony was once again the big armored monster. Nero felt his heart speed up double time, but he was completely intrigued. It was that easy?

"Can I come closer?" he whispered.

"Sure kid," the demon smirked, this time when his teeth showed they were pointed and sharp. "I told you, it's still me."

He looked at him warily but came slowly closer. The armor didn't look as thick on Tony as it was on him. It was red on his arms and shoulders trailing down his sides and flared off him down to the middle of his calves-and he realized that it was his coat. It had translated into this devil form. The middle of his chest glowed reddish-yellow that branched off across his body, like the blue light on his arm as well and he sort of wondered if it was as sensitive.

"I'm not gonna bite," he teased.

"Yeah, well if you did your teeth could certainly do some damage," he parried with good humor. "So why don't you talk to me? Tell me what this is about?"

"Well, I call it my devil trigger. I got it when I really needed it I guess. If my devil hadn't awakened I would have died," the agent explained, trying to refrain from doing his normal grand gestures as he spoke feeling like the young man would bolt like a frightened cat if he moved too much.

"Why?" he asked, poking the older devil's arm and making him chuckle.

"Well, I was kinda being impaled at the time. I likely woulda died from that,"

"_Impaled?_ What were you _doing_?"

"Fighting, needless to say I sort of had lost that battle. It's okay though, I won the war," he winked.

"You'll have to explain that to me sometime," he commented. "You look like…super dangerous like this you know. It's really freaky," he grinned.

"I would be offended, but I will take a badge of freakiness from you with honor!" he claimed.

"You're crazy, you know that? You act like you're like twelve."

"I guess after all the stuff I've done I can accept the crazy badge too," he said thoughtfully.

Nero laughed. "Yeah, you're a regular boy scout seems like. How old are you really anyway?"

"Twenty-two,"

"That young?"

"How old did you think I was?" he demanded.

"Thirties maybe," he teased as the older male gripped dramatically at his heart. Nero tensed up a little as he moved, but seeing the _devil _do that made him crack up into hysterical laughter. "I guess it must really be you in there."

"Of course it's me kid! You just gave me a terrible wound to my pride!"

Nero felt himself relax a bit, examining the older demon more closely. He held himself the same and everything. It was extremely hard to believe that with all the change in his appearance it really was him. He reached out a little, hesitant, and Tony held still as he barely grazed his fingers over the glowing part of his flesh. The demon jumped a little, but smiled and didn't pull away.

"That didn't hurt or anything, did it?"

"Nah, I'm built like a tank kid!" he grinned widely.

"Your armor isn't as thick as mine," the younger pointed out with a smirk.

"Okay, so I'm a light infantry tank, alright? Does that make you feel better? I got the best of both, armor and movement," he winked. His trigger flickered and then disappeared as he let out a heaving sigh. "Sorry, it takes a lot of effort to hold it like that."

"It does? I suppose that makes sense," he nodded. "So, how did you do that thing yesterday? Where you like…disappeared?"

"Ah, ah, kid. It's your turn again. You gotta show me something else you can do,"

"Man, I'm gonna have to pick what you show me real careful because I'm pretty sure that I have a lot fewer things to show you than you do me."

He laughed. "Come on. Let's find you something you can hit!" he suggested gleefully.

* * *

A woman with white hair to her chin watched the devils through the large windows of the building with her opaque eyes. She reached out with a white gloved hand to the cup holder of the clunker she had rented for her spying mission in this city. Inside there was a small disposable phone that she used to dial her superior holding the phone between her ear and her blue feathered shoulder. She tugged lightly at the corset strings that kept her breasts from popping out of the small strips of fabric that she called a dress.

A smile curved her glossy lips as he answered gruffly. "I found them Credo, what should we do?"

* * *

Hopefully ya'll know who the character at the end is ;3 I had to think really hard about whether or not to bring her in and decided to at the end. Leave me reviews please! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth July 23, 2012


	11. Chapter 11

The Company CHAPTER 11

L. K. Heinrich: Dante is definitely one to be lazy not wanting to give Nero is own techniques step for step, but letting him learn on his own :3 Nero is certainly wary about demons since he's been told that demons are bad (except Sparda I guess?) Dante is the kind of teacher that you usually don't realize that he's teaching you, which is probably the best way to learn! :3 Gloria is here, and you'll see how she'll come into play ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ebony Redgrave: Cerberus fit by shrinking himself down a bit so he fits in the shop XD I couldn't find a way to put that in without it sounding strange. Chorozon is actually a demon that I looked up. He's a devil of the Abyss that is the last obstacle to enlightenment, he's suppose to destroy ego. I just thought it was kinda cool. :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Guest: Yep, it's Gloria! XD I could see her as Lady Gaga, she's so crazy looking! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: I liked the training session, it was fun to write :3 I feel like Nero would be very interested in his devil trigger and that he might be able to do something similar someday himself ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Sorry to hear you were sick! Hope you're feeling better :3 I liked the backstory and everything in the last chapter, it was fun to write :3 Tony's teaching style is interesting as well :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Sw0rdfi5h: Well I'm glad that you decided to give this story a chance, I think that it is gonna end up pretty good-at least I'm hoping so! Glad you like so far! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: Yeah, it's Gloria :3 Trust is building between the two. Dante definitely thinks that he's a tank XD You'll find out about Gloria later ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Some shake ups this chapter, hope you like it!

* * *

A few more days passed and Nero found himself getting more and more comfortable around Tony. At first he just appeared to be some kind of authority figure. By his upbringing the knight was pretty wary of people in high positions. They didn't seem to like his sense of humor, or his rebelliousness, or anything about him seemingly.

He got the chance to see Tony in a different light, one that painted him as someone with personality, a sense of humor-humanity. Tony liked old rock music, he ordered pizza all the time because he couldn't cook or was too lazy to do so. He had a bit of a sweet tooth and nothing passed him by without a snarky comment or joke. He was someone Nero figured he could have a kinship with even if they didn't both share devil blood.

The two had gone head-to-head a few more times, though not in the 'safe house.' Instead they went to an empty warehouse. (Apparently they couldn't cause anymore damage to the place they were staying at.) The warehouse was an empty place that Tony explained he went to sometimes to train. Inside it was dusty and in some places on the floor there were dark patches and the walls were riddled with bullet holes. It was a big, open space that was shielded from human eyes and that made it ideal.

Nero felt that he'd improved leaps and bounds in just hours over the last couple of days. He was even allowed Blue Rose back. It was another thing he could use for their 'show and tell' times seeing as he'd designed it himself. He only rued the fact he hadn't had Red Queen when he was kidnapped, he'd made the modifications to that weapon and he occasionally missed it's comforting weight when he looked at the weapons and devil arms around the shop.

They were at the warehouse again today, trying out Nero's marksmanship. The knight wasn't an expert seeing as he hadn't had anyone to teach him before, but he could hit a moving target, and that was what mattered. Just for fun Tony suggested that Nero should practice his aim while the agent practiced his evasion techniques.

"Are you nuts?" he asked quirking an eyebrow. "What if I hit you?"

"So what if you do? I've taken bullets many times kid. A lot of them in this room where I can have time to recover instead of out in the field."

"Who have you practiced with?" he wondered, replacing the bullets in his gun.

"Lady, my partner."

"Oh, right," he murmured. Tony had mentioned the woman a few times. She was in the hospital for something, though it didn't seem serious, he didn't know what it was.

"So you're gonna run around and I'm gonna shoot at you?"

"That's the idea! Later we can switch places!"

"Oh no," he disagreed shaking a finger at the older male. "I am _not_ letting you shoot at me again."

Tony laughed. "Can't take a joke, can you?"

"Would help if I knew you were messing around." the knight replied.

"Alright, alright, but I wasn't kidding about the first part. Gimmie your best shot kid," he smirked. Nero returned the look and raised his weapon, firing a few times as Tony gracefully dove and spun out of harm's way. He also did that 'teleporting' thing he'd done a few days ago. Nero had learned he didn't really disappear, he just moved so fast that it was hard to see him unless you were prepared for it.

After a few rounds he managed to hit the older male in the arm, making them both gasp. Tony only softly in pain and Nero in surprise and worry.

"Not bad," the agent commented pulling the bullet out. "Wouldn't be lethal though, wouldn't even slow me down."

Nero glowered. "Maybe I'm not trying to hurt you jackass."

He laughed. "Don't be such a worrywart kid. Go again."

They went on a little longer until Tony's phone went off and he called a 'time out' to answer it.

Nero was used to it at this point. It was usually Tony's boss or mom checking up on him. The thought stirred up a bit of guilt in the pit of his stomach. Credo and Kyrie didn't even know he was still alive right now.

"Tony," the agent answered, in his usual upbeat manner. It was also his way of letting anyone on the other end know that he was around someone who didn't know his true identity.

"Tony!" the voice on the other end was female and vaguely frantic. He didn't really recognize it, it pinged somewhere in his memory but no solid connection to anyone he knew. "Help, I need your help."

"Wait, hold on, who is this?"

Nero looked over at his alarmed tone, his own problems swept aside.

"G-Gloria, from the agency? We met a time or two."

"Oh, right, aren't you out on assignment?"

"Yes-I'm-" her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm undercover in a place called Fortuna with the Order of the Sword." Tony's eyes darted over at Nero for just a moment before she continued. "I-my cover is going to be blown, but that's not the only problem. The Order-all of them-t-t-they're all…" she trailed off breathless.

"Gloria? Gloria?"

"They're demons. Artificial demons. They think they're angels," she let out a little hysteric giggle. "They want me to become one too. I-I can't. I just can't do it. I can't, but if I don't-"

"Gloria, calm down. Who's in charge there?"

"Santus…the head priest. Everyone here is in a panic wanting to speed up plans because of that boy disappearing-"

"What plans?"

"Hell Tony. They want to open hell. God, you've got to get over here-that-that's what you do, isn't it?"

"Yeah, that falls under my jurisdiction," he sighed, looking at the kid again. "Listen, don't-do that thing they want you to, and if you can't get away with it without, get the hell out of there, okay?"

"Okay, okay," she said, her voice still a little panicky but carefully coming down.

"Stay calm. I'll be there soon," he said before hanging up.

Silence hung thickly in the air until Nero worked up the nerve to speak. "What was that about?"

"Another agent. I need to get where she is."

His eyes lit up, and he quickly doused the hope that was surging through him, half-lidding his eyes and looking down at the floor. "So, am I going with you?"

"I'm sort of responsible for you, so yeah," he said a smirk forming on his face, but it didn't meet his eyes, making something thick and heavy knot in the knight's guts.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. We gotta get moving-now. I'll explain on the way."

* * *

An hour later they were on a tiny airfield guns holstered in their respective places. Tony had a huge duffle bag on his back holding his sword Rebellion. He'd suggested Nero take one as well, but none of the ones he'd tried at the safe house did it for him. He wasn't permitted to use the devil arms and nothing else matched up to Red Queen.

Tony still hadn't told him what was going on either. He'd seemed eerily silent since the phone call. It was really making him nervous at this point. He was so distracted with his thoughts that he nearly tripped over his own feet coming to a stop when Tony did in front of a plane.

It was big. Well, to Nero it was big, it was actually a light civilian aircraft, so there were bigger planes out there, just ones Nero hadn't seen before. He'd never seen one up close before, only seen them up in the sky. A man seemed to be doing maintenance on it, but stopped and quirked an eyebrow when he saw Tony's bright red jacket before coming towards them. The man was average looking, about Tony's height with short brown hair, dark eyes, a strong chin and a mustache.

"Tony, good to see you boy. Need a lift?"

The agent's lips twisted into a smile. "Hey Morrison, yeah. I need to get to the island of Fortuna, pronto."

Nero looked over sharply. They were going back to Fortuna? Why didn't he tell him that? What the hell was going through the agent's mind?

"Sure, you know you're always welcome to fly with me," he said, throwing open the door and climbing into the tiny cabin.

Nero shivered. They weren't getting _into_ that deathtrap…right?

"Come on kid," Tony beckoned him as he pulled himself up into the plane. Nero hesitated, walking forward slowly so he could peer inside. It was just as claustrophobic and frightening as he thought it would be. There were four seats in what would be the 'back' of the plane and the pilot's seat to the front. Tony was already settling in, his sword tossed into the seats in the far back leaving the space next to him empty.

Nero carefully pulled himself up inside, tension knotting in his stomach. Tony pushed him down into the seat so that he could reach past him and slam the door closed. The knight fumbled to put his seatbelt on, confused with the style as he'd never been on a plane before.

Tony brushed his hands away and fastened it for him. "First time flying?" he asked with a knowing grin. Nero glared at him, but some of his fear evaporated. "Maybe-shut up!" he flushed. Tony only laughed lightly as he took a seat as well and buckled up, giving Morrison a thumbs-up.

Nero felt his breath quickening as the plane slowly taxied over to a runway. His fingers dug into the beige leather seats until Tony placed a hand over his.

"Relax kid, seriously. Everything is gonna be fine."

"Why are we going back to Fortuna?" he asked, he really wanted an explanation, though he supposed that he also wanted a distraction.

"That's where Gloria is. I guess she's been infiltrating that Order you said you belong to."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Must have been some kind of strange behavior going on. She might be where we got the tip about your arm."

"But, you made it sound like she's in trouble. What's going on?"

"I don't think I should really talk about that," he said cryptically, looking away. A flash of anger ran through the knight. Damn it! This was what he hated-Tony the automaton. Who couldn't tell him anything or be himself. He liked Tony the normal guy he'd seen over the last few days.

"Tony, I have family there, okay? If something is going on then I want to know what it is."

The agent sighed and looked out the window. "Something demonic is going on. The other agent told me that everyone in that Order you belong to? She said they're turning themselves into demons," he said, looking back over at the young man.

Nero went pale. "What? No, that can't be right at all! Why-" Words dried up in his throat as he saw Tony's gaze flicker to his arm. It was only for a fraction of a second, but it told Nero everything he'd been thinking about. Why he hadn't told the knight what was going on. He thought that he might be part of it. "What? You think I _wanted _this thing! ? You think I did this to myself! ?" he demanded, rage flying through his frame.

"If I really thought that I wouldn't have let you keep your gun. I wouldn't have left your hands free and I certainly wouldn't be taking you with me, Nero," he answered calmly, looking back out the window as the plane began to take off.

The knight frowned. That was it. He was going to test him. He was taking him to Fortuna so he could find out if he was with Tony or the Order. Nero felt his stomach sinking down to his feet as the plane got off the ground.

* * *

So the trust between the two is really getting shaken up. Apparently Tony trusts people a little too easily. :3 I also included Morrison from the anime in this chapter. Sorry if I didn't really do him justice, but I haven't seen the Animated Series myself. Leave me a review and let me know how I did! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth July 30, 2012


	12. Chapter 12

The Company CHAPTER 12

surrendertome: Gloria is definitely doing something :3 Nero's really torn. He's not sure what to think. Starts blending with DMC4 this chapter with a few adjustments :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Blood of Dusk: Sorry about Morrison. I tried looking up some video of him, or descriptions or anything and there just isn't much out there unfortunately. Glad you liked it anyway :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: I don't have iTunes ): I don't like Apple very much. Glad you liked the twist anyway :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Yeah, I wish I knew more about Morrison, I just prefer using people who are from the series rather than inventing people myself :3 Nero's not so sure about trusting Dante anymore, but you'll see. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I don't think that I'm going to use Dante's real name in this story too much :3 It will most likely be 'Tony' the majority of the way though. Gloria is very in on the Order's operations :3 I don't know how Agnus is though to look angelic. He just looks like a big beetle to me. Nero will get Red Queen, just not this chapter :3 I figured Nero would be scared of airplanes XD Especially those little ones! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus: Yup, Nero was starting to get into a smooth groove and now things are gonna get really shook up. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: Here's some more! Hope you can get back into a rhythm! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

WOO! Sorry it took so long to get the chapter out ya'll. Been busy with work and moving and a bunch of junk, so hope you like it!

* * *

The plane landed in a small green strip on the west side of the island, it was a pretty clear shot back to town. Apparently the agent wasn't too worried, but Nero was. The butterflies in his stomach over what Tony might be planning to do were making him nauseous the plane ride hadn't helped matters on that front either.

"Tony," he sighed as the plane left "What are you going to do?"

The older male tilted his head. "I'm planning to take out the head of the operation, you happen to know who that is?" he asked with a grin.

Nero balked in answering, feeling as though he'd be signing that person's death warrant.

"I'm just kiddin'. I already know who it is. I just have to figure out how I'm gonna get to him."

"Who?" The kid felt more sick.

"The head priest guy."

Oh, that wasn't so bad. Nero didn't really like the old fuck, though he didn't really want to see him killed either. "How-I mean…how can you be so casual about it? What if he's innocent?"

"I'll know if he is or isn't," he answered easily.

"You're accusing him of being a demon-everyone of being a demon, right?"

"Something like that." he admitted.

Nero held up his gloved bringer. "If they were, don't you think I would have figured it out by now?"

Tony shrugged. Nero had to hold back a cringe, that hurt. True, he'd only known the man for a couple of days, but he'd put his faith in Tony, he thought that the agent trusted him too. It was starting to rattle his own conviction in the older male.

"Maybe they're something that your arm doesn't react to," he suggested after a few moments, and Nero thought it was only to soothe him, but he couldn't be sure.

They walked in silence for awhile before Nero came to an abrupt halt. Tony didn't stop, just glanced over his shoulder. "What?"

"What day is it?"

The agent paused and turned around. "The first I think."

"Oh shit, the festival is today."

"Festival?"

"The…Festival of the Blade, it celebrates Sparda…sealing the demon world from the human," he explained.

"…Yeah, okay. What's so important about that?"

"Kyrie is singing today. I can't miss it," he answered as he started walking again, his strides long and determined.

Tony frowned in utter confusion. "What?" he asked, turning to follow. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Everyone gathers together in the sanctuary and Kyrie is going to sing before Sanctus does his spiel. She's my sister, I have to be there."

Tony hummed at this information. Well now he knew where Sanctus was going to be and Nero was going to take him directly there. "When does this shindig start anyway?" he asked.

Nero looked at the sky, the sun was up though it was still a little pink in the distance. They'd been training in the warehouse in the middle of the night-it was apparently the best time to practice gunplay without being discovered. They'd gotten into the plane in the predawn so it was probably around eight am.

"Probably now," he admitted as he broke into a run.

Tony followed closely at his heels as they ran into the city, no one stopped them. The streets were utterly barren until they approached the Opera House, several scarecrows blocked the way.

"Where is everyone?" Tony wondered as he pulled his blade from the bag and cleaved a demon in two.

"The sermon. No one in town misses it." he answered, shooting a few of the creatures. He dropped one of the scarecrows and used his bringer to tear away the blade that made up its arm and switched it into his human hand with a grin, hacking the next scarecrow in half.

He leapt up using some of the scarecrows bodies as stepping stones as he continued to make his way towards the opera house, hacking and kicking at any of the demons that got in his way. He assumed that Tony had his back.

When Nero reached his destination, he realized that he was alone-Tony had disappeared. He cast a look around before snorting and heading inside. He could hear his sister's voice ringing out once the door opened and he snuck into one of the back pews

The female finished the song and looked out over the audience where she spotted the white haired male. He gave her a half-smile and she beamed. The songstress made her way off the stage and over to her adopted brother, as Sanctus took center stage.

"You made it," she whispered.

"'Course I did, wouldn't miss it for the world," he murmured as she sat beside him.

The priest started the sermon about Sparda and Nero found his mind drifting to the son of said demon. Where the hell did he take off to? He also noticed Credo watching him intently, though he made no move to approach.

"…Let us pray."

Nero looked around as everyone bowed their heads, now would be a good time to duck out and search for Ton-

There was a large crash, and stained glass rained down from the ceiling. A flash of red, and there was a figure crouched on the pulpit.

Nero flew to his feet with a gasp, but faster than anyone could move to do something a white gun flashed and a thunderous boom filled the room.

Tony turned, his face smeared with blood. Nero could only stare. How could he have determined the priest was a demon so fast? Did he even really know?

"Your Holiness!"

The words shouted by his adopted brother jolted him out of his thoughts as everything flew into a flurry of motion. Knights drew their swords and ran to defend the public. Kyrie's breath was coming fast and he looked over to her.

He was torn on what to do. None of the knights were equipped to take on the half-devil, but he didn't know what Tony was doing. He decided the elder would be fine and instead took Kyrie's hand, intent on getting her out of there.

The red clad hunter pounced, kicking the first guard back into some pews before turning and putting his sword directly through the next.

Nero jerked to a stop-he was killing them, quickly and efficiently dealing them their deaths. Forget the knights not being equipped to handle the man-he certainly wasn't either, but he couldn't just leave them to be slaughtered! He turned to go into battle but the songstress held onto him looking petrified.

"Nero, no. Let the knights take care of it," she pleaded. He had to get her out of here, then come back.

He nodded and pulled her towards the exit. She kept looking towards the battle though as much as the young knight wanted her to avert her gaze. Credo had gone to Sanctus' side and when Tony had knocked away enough of the other guards he strode towards their brother.

Kyrie wrested her hand free and ran to him. "Credo!"

"Kyrie!" Nero shouted, reaching out for her and attempting to follow her. What the hell was she going to do! ? Sing him to death! ? To make things worse, one of the remaining guards was knocked back by Tony, hitting her and making her fall at the feet of the man in red who looked at her critically.

Nero felt his rage bubble up to the surface, Tony was not going to touch his family! He sprinted forward, jumping and driving his feet into the agent's face, sending him flying. Nero landed in a low crouch and revealed Blue Rose, shooting at the agent who deflected the bullets with Rebellion, flying back to land on the head of the Sparda statue, Nero jumped up after him, kicking the hilt of the sword as Tony tried to take it out of the stone. They landed facing one another, guns drawn, the kid keeping his devil arm tucked close to his body.

Credo had taken his place by Kyrie's side as the remaining members of the Knights gathered up Sanctus' body and carried him out.

"I will go for help, you stall him until then!" he shouted at the young half devil who gave no response as the captain retreated.

The two stared each other down and Nero was nearly positive that he had failed Tony's test and he was going to die here like the other knights, and he didn't give a damn. He'd known the man for three days, he wasn't turning against his family for that. If Tony was going to kill him there was nothing he could do to stop it other than fight back as hard as he could.

* * *

I know a lot of this is a rehash of what happened in the beginning of DMC4, but the tweaks are important. I still have to figure out how I'mn going to go through the game without rehashing EVERYTHING. I'm sure that'll get boring for everyone quick. Anyway, leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth August 9, 2012


	13. Chapter 13

The Company CHAPTER 13

SirenaLoreley: You know me, I try to keep things as cannon as possible, even in AUs XD You'll see what happens! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Chain Mell: I agree rehashing is boring to read and to write btw XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I don't know why Nero in the game never had a reaction to any of the knights. Maybe it's because they are created demons, or his arm only reacts when they're doing demon things? Hope you're okay with some more rehashing :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

AngryAngel89: Glad you like the mixing it up, I've been having fun so far! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: Yeah, the fight is mostly Nero just going against Dante thinking he's kinda lost his marbles XD Some things like you suggested will probably be happening, though Nero's a little more conflicted than not :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: I'm glad you're okay with the rehashing because there will probably be more XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Lotus Butterfly: Glad you liked despite the rehashing, there's still some more to be had, but I'm going to do my best to keep it to a minimum :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ebony Redgrave: Yep, the two are definitely going to duke it out :3 I really have no idea why Nero's devil bringer doesn't react to the Order, maybe it's because they're artificial? Or because they aren't doing anything with super demony power? Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I feel like this chapter may have come out quite rushed, and if so, I really apologize. I spent 2 weeks on it, and I figured that I just needed to get through it and get it out so more stuff can happen next chapter. Enjoy anyway! :3

* * *

"What are you doing kid?" Tony asked, one brow cocked up to his hairline.

Nero leveled a stare at him from down Blue Rose's barrel. "I'm protecting my family."

"The dark haired guy?"

"That's my brother."

Tony's look softened. "Kid, he's a demon."

Nero's gun barked out a few rounds as the agent jumped out of the way, his own pistols flying into action to counter the rest of the bullets as he fell down to the ground. Nero hopped down after him.

"I would notice if my own brother turned into a demon."

"Nero, sometimes the people we think we know, we actually don't know at all," he knew this from personal experience.

The young man shook his head and Tony sighed, knowing the youth had deafened his ears to the idea. Nero was certainly different than the others, he retained his humanity, the others were pushovers because they held no passion, no human emotion. The kid was just plain full of the stuff.

"So what are we gonna do? Stand here aiming at each other?" he asked, still holding his ebony and ivory beauties at the ready.

"No," he answered simply. The word was accentuated by another report from Blue Rose.

Tony countered with his own pistols and rolled out of the way as the kid snatched at him with his devil bringer.

They continued like this for awhile longer, but they'd fought this way several times so neither got the upper hand. Nero looked around and spotted a sword from one of the fallen Order members. He kicked it into the air and caught it with his left hand, placing the tip to the ground and revving the engine.

Tony smirked and held out his hand, Rebellion flying from the statue's face and landing squarely in this palm.

"What's the point of packing a sword like that if you aren't even gonna use it?" the Order member demanded.

"It didn't seem very fair while you didn't have one," he offered, waving Rebellion with a flourish.

Nero glared, did he think this was a game? Did Tony think that he wasn't serious?

He lunged forward with a snarl and their blades met with the ring of steel. Nero attacked as though in a frenzy, but blow after blow only met Rebellion, the older male wearing a smirk and after a few more attacks faked a yawn and parried to send the kid stumbling back a few steps.

The Order member paused, staring at his opponent who waited with his sword resting on his shoulder. A slight smirk curling the corners of his mouth as he bided his time.

It was a game. Tony didn't see him as a threat at all. He was so little of a threat he didn't even need to kill him. Fresh rage snaked through his body and he lunged forward again, bringing his sword down from above. Tony lifted his blade to parry, leaving his body open as he lifted his arm up. Nero took the opening and drove his demonic claws _in_.

The cocky smirk was wiped off the other male's features as the demonic appendage tore into his stomach making him gasp. He controlled his body to keep himself from jumping back and tearing a chunk out of himself. Instead he held his sword steady and grabbed Nero's wrist with his other hand, squeezing hard, though it didn't seem to phase the younger male who dug his claws in harder. Tony closed his eyes tightly to keep them from rolling in pain.

"Nero, let go," he commanded softly. He only got a snarl in response. His own blue eyes hardened. "You won't listen to _me_ but damn it at least use your own fucking senses!" he snapped. "Look around you! Don't you notice anything fucking strange about your fallen comrades?"

The Order member wasn't listening, so Tony shoved him backwards with more effort than he'd shown before which sent the kid sprawling, his hand covered in blood and bits of gore while the older hunter took several deep breaths.

"Look!" he snapped, gesturing with Rebellion at one of the dead knights. Their helmet had fallen off to reveal shriveled black skin, pointed teeth and glowing eyes. Nero glared over before his blue hues widened and his blood ran ice cold.

Tony glanced over at the doors hearing the kid's brother returning with the cavalry. He jumped up the huge Sparda statue to get to the broken window.

Nero looked up at him in a daze.

"I think you possess something different from the others, we'll have to find out."

"What are you talking about! ?" he demanded, getting back to his feet.

"I'll see you later, kid." he smirked, disappearing as Nero took a shot at him in an effort to slow him down or…something. He wasn't even really sure himself, but he didn't want Tony to leave him here alone!

The doors burst open and he quickly yanked his sleeve over his devil arm as Credo looked frantically around the room.

"You just missed him. He got away," Nero sighed, holstering his revolver. He was sure that Tony knew the men were coming, that's why he split so fast.

Credo snapped at the men who had followed him to check the perimeter. The words 'don't bother' sprang to Nero's lips but didn't make it out of his mouth, they wouldn't find him, but it didn't matter, they were going to look anyway.

Credo looked around the trashed room in disapproval but said nothing before turning his attention to Nero. "You're alright?"

"Just a few cuts and bruises."

"Good, I sent Kyrie to bring your sword, I need you to go after him."

"That man?" he asked, glancing up at the broken window.

"Yes, you seem to be the only one capable of holding your own against him. We need him brought in to charge him for the murder of His Holiness."

"Right," he whispered. "Of course I'll go after him again."

* * *

Kyrie brought him Red Queen and as the knights scoured the town they found a few witnesses who explained that Tony had been seen heading towards Fortuna Castle. That meant Nero was headed in the same direction.

Kyrie, Credo and himself headed out of the Opera House to find a crowd of people running from some Scarecrow demons. He glanced over to his sister to see she was barely keeping from whimpering in fear.

"Credo, get Kyrie out of here. I got this," he explained with a smirk, revving Red Queen on his back before launching into battle, getting between the demons and the townspeople.

"We must evacuate the residents back to headquarters, report back as soon as you can-and _be careful_." Credo demanded as he herded the people out of harm's way.

"I got it already!" he shot back, but he couldn't help a small smile. Credo gave a damn what happened to him, there's no way that he was a demon.

Nero was busy dispatching said demons when Kyrie spotted a little boy crying amongst the chaos. The demons saw him the same time she did and headed for him. The songstress threw herself into danger, sure that her life would probably be over in a matter of seconds, though maybe that would be enough time for the child to escape.

She felt a gust of wind at her back, and held her breath.

"Get out of here-go with your brother!" Nero demanded knocking the demons away from them. She nodded and grabbed the child, getting both of them out of there. Once they were gone Nero heaved a sigh of relief and revealed his arm. Using it he threw one of the demons at the stone arch the others had gone through to escape, sending it crashing to the ground causing an impasse that the demons would have trouble getting over, keeping everyone else safe.

He repeated the action to close the gate the demons were coming in from and started in on the scarecrows that had already gotten in. Red Queen felt fantastic in his grasp, fire igniting down the length to burn some demons in two. The demons seemed a little strange. When he cut them apart black ooze or powder or something seeped out of them and then bubbled away to nothing.

He huffed a sigh when all the demons were gone. He headed towards the port, he'd need to cross the bridge, get through the mines and the mountains in order to reach the castle. He wasn't sure if he'd even be able to find Tony once he arrived. He wasn't sure he wanted to. He was so mixed up he didn't know who was telling the truth anymore.

* * *

Tony had already reached the large pathway leading up to Fortuna Castle. Snow was blowing in all directions which was quite a shock after the beautiful weather on the coastline. A few demons had popped out at him along the way, but they were fairly easily taken care of.

He stopped when he felt a stronger demonic presence and turned around. When he did he felt his muscles convulse and he went ramrod straight. It was a demon, he knew that much, but it was one that looked familiar. It was a person he saw every day he was home, a photo, right next to the picture of his adoptive parents. His real mother.

* * *

Cliffy :3 Sorry it took so long. I just wasn't in the mood to write fighting. I know there was a lot of it I kinda glossed over in this chapter. I sort of cut around the fighting to get to the stuff that was important-that stuff being what the two are thinking about during this whole ordeal :3 I hope you guys like it anyway, there's going to be some rehashing for awhile, but since we don't know what Dante was doing for the first half of DMC 4 I'm taking some liberties to keep it interesting ;3 Leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth August 23, 2012


	14. Chapter 14

The Company CHAPTER 14

Winged Element: Yeah, following the storyline at least I'll be able to jump around just a bit and people will still know what's going on-hopefully anyway :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Yep, cliff hanger ending! :3 You'll get to see who the person is this chapter! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: I hope I can do alright filling in Dante's blanks during the game and just gloss over Nero's part a bit :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Kuraj Crescent: You'll see who the demon is this chapter ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I'm glad you liked it and it didn't feel like too much of a rehash I was trying to make it different enough to be interesting :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Two chapters in one week! Albeit for different stories, but two chapters nonetheless :3 I like how this chapter worked out pretty well, hope that you guys like it too!

* * *

"Well, well, what do we have here?" Tony asked, letting his carefree façade roll over him once again even when confronted with the ghost of his mother.

"Nice to see you could make it Dante," she commented. He frowned slightly, tilting his head a little thrown off by the use of his name, he was also a bit baffled about the voice…there was something about it.

"I go where duty calls," he explained, making a grand gesture with his hands.

"I hear that you handle all the dirty jobs, am I correct?"

"Almost, I only take very 'special' jobs," he said with a slight smirk, drawing Rebellion with a flip. "If you know what I mean."

They stared off for a few moments, waiting to see if the other would make a move.

"You're the son of the legendary dark knight Sparda, they worship him in these parts."

"Well peaceful worship can't be condemned so I've been told. So what's it to you anyway? I'm sure you don't want to kiss my boots," he stated cockily, casually striding closer to the woman, snow crunching under said boots. He leveled his sword with the demon's throat.

"No, you'd he right on that front," she replied, lifting her hand as it neared his blade sparks danced over her palm and she grabbed the weapon, sending currents of electricity straight into the half-devil. He was surprised by the pain of it, paralyzing him as the woman jumped up and kicked him in the head causing him to stagger a step. Her next kick made him topple backwards and land on a few rocks half hidden in the snow. Rebellion flew through the air until the blonde grabbed it, charging it with energy and throwing it like a dart through his ribs. Damn she was strong.

He writhed as power scorched through every muscle gasps and growls leaving his lips as she continued to send electricity arcing through what was effectively a lightning rod in his chest.

"Are you really the son of the legendary dark knight Sparda? Didn't your daddy teach you how to use a sword?" she taunted him with a laugh. She stopped the flow of energy as he was able to haul in a breath and get his bearings for a quick second before the demon was hurling a rock at him. How unoriginal.

"Sword? Ha! Time to go to work girls," he grinned as his pistols flew from their holsters, twirling once around his fingers before he aimed and fired faster than one could blink, completely ignoring the steel lodged where it should have been fatally wounding him.

The rock was juggled midair before finally exploding into pieces and falling into the snow. The woman jumped to the side to avoid the volley of gunfire and pebbles. Dante hauled himself to his feet and made his way towards her.

"That all you got? I was expecting a better fight," he sighed as she dragged herself back away from him. The agent holstered his guns and placed both hands on the edges of his broadsword, pulling it back through his body, spurts of blood landing with a hiss of steam on the pristine white of the ground.

"What strength," she marveled.

"And I ain't bad lookin' either," he jibed. "Anyway, if you're here, looks like I'm getting closer to what I'm looking for," he said, aiming his white gun at her, though he was reluctant to shoot.

"It seems that way," she agreed with a sigh, pushing herself to her feet. "But I'm not you're enemy."

"Really? Sure looks that way from where I'm standin',"

"My name is Trish, or you may know me better as Gloria,"

His eyes widened-that's where he knew her voice from. How had a demon slipped under his radar at the agency! ?

"I was seeking your help, to put an end to the underworld."

"What?" he asked, shocked. Why would a demon want to do that? What Cerberus had talked to him and Nero about surfaced in his mind. Sparda wasn't the only demon who rebelled, perhaps this was another.

"Mundus, sealed so many years ago by your father is resurrected. His powers were sealed but he's attempting to gain control of the human world by manipulating these people here. He's preparing to open a gate somewhere on this island."

"Yeah? What do you want me to do about it?"

* * *

Nero made his way through the building, heading for the old mining town. No one had been out there for years, which was probably why he had so much trouble with the bridge. Striding out into the town he looked up to the overlooking cliff where a giant slab of black stone sat covered in white runes.

"Let me guess…more demons," he muttered to himself, maybe this was where they'd been coming from.

As he watched, yellow and red spots formed on the surface…something was coming through. Well, it was lucky he was here to stop it. Fire burst from the gate and a demon leapt out. The thing was huge and looked almost like a centaur, except with more lion-like features covered in scales and on fire. It was muttering to itself as it walked forward, the town was set on fire from a blast it emitted.

The two of them strode forward, each going their own way until they walked right past each other. Nero watched him through the corner of his eye and once he was past the flaming tail he stopped and drew Red Queen, placing the tip on the ground and twisting the blade-side out. He spun quickly in a circle throwing up dirt and air that silenced the fires around him and sent the signs on the old buildings flapping.

The demon stopped, and turned around. "How curious..."

"Fire's bad for the completion. I burn easily. Never tan," he jested with a mostly straight face.

The monster started towards him. "When I came to this world two-thousand years ago there was no human as the likes of you."

"Wanna make it another two-thousand?"

"Silence!" He drove his blade forward and Nero met it with Red Queen, the tips coming into contact and staying perfectly still. Heat transferred to his blade's tip, but it was on fire a lot of the time, so it could handle the heat.

Nero pushed forward and the demon stumbled back. That really only seemed to piss him off. Oh well. What else was new?

"Futile pest, you will suffer the wrath of Berial. I, the conqueror of the fire hell!"

They clashed again, their swords slamming together before Nero rolled out of the way, the beast was big, sure, but that had the downside of making him slow. The hunter shot out his arm catching his face and hacked away at him with Red Queen as he stumbled back waving his sword to try to hit the kid. Nero grinned and decided a pest was the perfect word as he zipped along after him, grabbing whatever he could to pull him forward and hack and slash at the demon's body.

Berial pulled in his energy and let out another burst of fire that caught the hunter and sent him flailing backwards, smashing into-and through a wall of one of the old houses with a groan. He got up and brushed himself off, looking up to see the demon coming at him, sword arm drawn back about to take the whole house out! He slammed his shoulder into the opposite wall and broke through the old wood, rolling out of the way of the assault.

The demon was caught off guard as Nero latched onto his back and started slashing away again, trying to find a killing blow. The fire on the demon's body went down to an ember and he paused in confusion until the demon bucked him off, sending him skidding over the ground. He rolled back to his feet and lashed out with his bringer, punching Berial up into the air and throwing him into a wall with enough force some of the rock broke away.

The demon ran forward once again, intent on squashing the devil slayer and taking out more of the houses with his wrath.

"You could be a demolition expert at this rate!" Nero called.

The demon didn't think it was very funny. He slashed his sword and fire flew out all around him again, leveling the remaining buildings. Nero jumped up to avoid the attack and used his bringer to latch on again and get close before slamming his fist into Berial sending him skidding backwards.

"Your arm…you are not human," he wheezed, getting up.

"Don't ask, damn thing drives me crazy though." he said, examining said arm.

"You are just like he was."

"And 'he' would be?" he asked, curious about what he meant by that.

"I must restore my powers." Fire started spinning around the devil, coalescing into an almost tangible form before shooting straight for the gate.

"Hey!" Nero shouted after him, but how did one exactly _stop _fire? The demon escaped and the kid heaved a sigh. "Damn it." He paused and looked all around the devastation of what used to be the ghost of an old mining town, now it was just the foundations. Oh well, he needed to find Tony. Hopefully the demon wouldn't be coming out again for awhile.

* * *

Still some rehashing with bits of a twist :3 Hope you all enjoyed! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth September 3, 2012


	15. Chapter 15

The Company CHAPTER 15

Winged Element: I thought it would be an interesting twist to add in elements from the first game. It makes things much more complicated, but hopefully as I go it will make sense! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: I hope that I can pull off merging the two games together! It's pretty daunting, but hopefully I'll be able to tackle it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Surrendertome: I wanted to keep kind of true to their original meeting, so I'm glad you enjoyed it :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

ChaosxPaladin: Well, I'm trying not to blatantly copy the previous games, but I do want to stay true to certain things. As I go things are changing much more, hopefully you can see that more in this chapter :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

LunaOculi: Glad you like the story so far, and I do agree with you that that description was a little…lengthy and unclear :3 So, no, don't worry I don't think you're a troll, I like to think that I take criticism pretty well :3 Hope you're looking forward to more of this story! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Glad you liked Trish's intro scene ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Ebony Redgrave: *grabs monocle and dignified voice* Nelo Angelo is scheduled for an appearance at some point, but he may be rather tardy…lolz ;3 The rest of your questions will have to wait! :D Glad to see the enthusiasm though! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

This chapter took me forevers! I'm really sorry about that, but life has just sort of come first recently :3 I had to work a lot last week, I'm in the process of interviewing for a new job *fingers crossed for me guys! :D* and I'm making a Nero cosplay as well! So just been busy. Hope this chapter is up to par, quite a bit of fighting going on :3

* * *

Apparently Trish, or Gloria, or whatever she was calling herself expected him to find and shut down the demon emperor just like his father had done before him, and then she took off to leave him to it. She told him a lot of the work seemed to be going on inside the castle, so he should start there, oh and by the way his father used to live here.

'_That's just freaking peachy,' _he thought to himself as he strolled into Fortuna Castle. The main room held what looked like a sarcophagus and several chairs and benches facing a glowing blue column. He had no idea what this space could possibly be used for. That wasn't really the important thing anyway. This place was blanketed in a foreboding demonic aura, he needed to find the one that it was coming from.

As he walked the corridors he couldn't help but be distracted, his own father had once walked these very same halls, and had stayed in one of these rooms…and where the hell was he now? He'd left-disappeared on their mother, and them when they were children. If he'd still been around none of this would have happened.

He still held a bit of animosity towards his old man, but it also didn't help that he got called out and targeted for being the legendary 'Son of Sparda.' He was Dante damn it! He had his own name, a legacy to make for himself that Sparda only contributed his sperm towards.

Tony shook himself from his thoughts as he looked down into the courtyard. There was a giant…black stone with white writing on it. It looked…a little bit like a hell gate really. He jumped down over the ledge and wrinkled his nose as a terrible stench hit him. Then he noticed the world seemed to almost go dark, like a theater just before a show and two blue glowing women appeared, making cooing noises and gesturing at him.

He grinned, well how about that? He walked forward as though welcoming their advances, and their cooing intensified, reaching for him. He ducked nimbly out of the way making appreciative sounds all the while before resting on the snowy ground on his elbow and crossing his legs.

The agent heard movement behind him and jumped, shifting out of the way as a giant froglike creature snapped its mouth over where he'd been just moments before. Spines of ice served as its mane and razor sharp teeth lined its gaping maw.

"What? How did you know!?" it crowed, moving around, the beautiful women he'd noticed earlier were actually lures attached to its head.

"Well, you can cover up that body, but that smell? Hoo! There's no covering that up!" he said, waving a hand in front of his face.

"Fool! You think I care what you say? I will crush you!" It roared with enough force that the tail of Dante's coat flipped over his head.

He chuckled and pushed it back down. "I'd actually like to see you try that."

Dante expected to lunge right into battle, instead the toad roared again, and the world went dim, except for the bright women lures.

"Are you that gutless? Or is this really the only trick you have?" He revealed Ebony and Ivory and unleashed a hailstorm of bullets towards both of his wonderfully illuminated targets.

However said puppets moved with inhuman speed and dodged the attacks. He holstered his guns and drew Rebellion instead. He focused in on one of the lures and drove forward, executing a series of slashes that seemed to glance off the rubbery body. He frowned and felt arms wrap around his chest.

Realization hit him like a freight train. They weren't just lures, they were also the hook!

He struggled and noticed 'Mr. Toadsworth' was lunging out of the darkness at him. He waited-as soon as he was inches from being ingested he activated his devil trigger, freeing himself and knocking the demon away.

Both skid in opposite directions on the snow. Dante had his hand down on the ground to steady himself before standing up, thick red armor once again encasing his body.

"Come on you little toady-is that the best you got?" he demanded, his voice a guttural growl.

Bael let out a howl of rage and ice crystals burst up in front of him, headed straight for the hunter. Dante jumped agilely out of the way, grabbing his guns again he fired at the demon's face, his bullets charged with an extra oomph that made Bael snarl and back up, trying to shake away the projectiles. The blue lures danced after his movements like flags in a storm.

Once Dante hit the ground his trigger deactivated and the demon saw its chance. Flexing its powerful legs it leapt up into the air and brought himself down where Dante was standing. The hunter was a pro and rolled out of the way as Bael laid himself out, his legs spread apart as he sat there dazed.

Dante shook his head and drew Rebellion, slicing at the tough skin, but it was as useless as trying to cut up the lures, he bounced right off. He was knocked back as Bael regained his footing and jumped away from the hunter.

A smirk curled the agent's lips as the frog roared and the world went dark again, the lures brining the only light. How predictable. Well, if you couldn't beat it from the outside…

He drove forward with a stinger and hit one lure, going to town on it until the other grabbed him.

"Oh no, whatever shall I do?" he wondered as he gave a few token struggles, cringing a little as he saw that mouth coming towards him. In the last instant the lure released him and he brought up Rebellion, stabbing it into the huge fleshy tongue. Bael screamed and thrashed his head, moving his tongue to try to swallow the hunter. Dante had trouble keeping his footing on the saliva covered appendage, but managed to draw Ivory and fire into the beast's belly.

The demon howled in rage and pain and instead made a move to spit Dante out. He managed to hold onto Rebellion with some effort as he was now covered in the monster's slime. Some days this job was just unglamorous.

He was smashed up into ridged roof of Bael's mouth and lost his grip on his sword's handle, fumbling instead to snatch the blade, cutting his palm open as he swore. He really did not want to get swallowed, stomach acid did some nasty things to leather…and his skin.

Instead of swallowing however the demon hacked and Dante felt himself landing in the freezing cold snow covered in spit. He shook his hands off with a disgusted face.

"Nasty!" he complained.

He quickly twisted as Rebellion flew out next, end over end stabbing the ground where he'd been a moment before. Bael shook his head, blood dribbling out of his mouth as he gasped for breath. He'd damaged him, but hadn't quite finished him off. Dante hated demons, but he didn't make them suffer. It wasn't his style.

The agent lifted Ivory and took careful aim shooting six more powered up shots down the beast's throat. The frog lunged up on his front legs, then went stock still before falling over and starting to dissolve.

Dante sighed and kicked the snow at his feet, shivering at the cold as he tried to shake the slobber off him and made his way over to the gate, intent on closing the damn thing.

* * *

Nero looked at the imposing silhouette of Fortuna castle. His breath frosted in front of him and he stared at it in wonder. He'd never seen his breath do that, and he'd certainly never seen all this snow. He shivered underneath his jacket and pulled it tighter around himself. It had to be an effect of something. He should probably find out what.

Hopefully Tony was around here somewhere. He really needed to figure this whole thing out. He shook his head and made his way closer to the bridge before stopping at a flurry of tracks in the snow. He crouched down for a closer look. One set he could figure were Tony's boots. The other looked like some kind of heels. A woman maybe.

Tony's tracks backed up into some rocks where blood was hidden under some of the snow. He'd been injured. Worry immediately tinged his conscious. His rational mind protested this very notion of concern. He'd seen Tony heal up from a multitude of things, and if he'd been seriously hurt he would have died here or at least been dragged away. Despite this however he was still worried. He needed to get into the castle and find Tony.

* * *

You know, every time Bael ate me I got so mad, because I would keep mashing the attack buttons but it never hurt him! XD I decided to rectify that situation! Hope you guys enjoyed it! Leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth September 21, 2012


	16. Chapter 16

The Company CHAPTER 16

SirenaLoreley: Yeah, Bael is a fun fight :3 Glad you liked the fight scene also! Nero is worried that something happened to Tony, even if he should be more worried about himself XD They will get back together, but it will probably take 2-3 more chapters…hopefully :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Chain Mell: I hated Bael the first time I fought him XD He totally ate me up a few times, I couldn't figure out how to dodge it! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Hawk wing: I hated that you couldn't attack Bael from the inside! Come on-I mean Dante took down the Leviathan from the inside! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: Dante and Nero haven't quite switched places, the bosses and things they're going to fight are just getting shook up to keep things interesting :3 I give out your favorite cookies! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: The devil trigger gets you out of Bael's mouth? I actually didn't know that XD Then again, I have to think before I activate my trigger, I don't have a reflex to push that button XD Yeah, no more invasion of the toads, Dante closed the gate :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Seeker Heart: You get to see what happens next now! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Sorry it took so long again, I don't know why I'm having so much trouble getting down to writing these chapters! I also would have had this one out a day or two ago, but I had to look up a video on you tube and my internet was out, so that's my excuse on that front XD Hope you guys enjoy it!

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Dante had discovered that the gates were being powered by some strong devil's arms. One of which now belonged to his collection. He carried the briefcase-like weapon along with him while he continued to explore the castle. There honestly didn't seem to be much else going on here for being the 'hub' of operations.

Maybe he should've brought the kid along, but, then again, he didn't seem to be in much of a trusting mood when they parted ways last.

He figured that it just felt strange going solo again. He'd taken nearly every mission over the last year or so with Lady. Sure she could be a bitch sometimes, but he was sort of missing her now. She had a different way of looking at things, maybe she would be able to wrap her head around what was going on here.

He looked around, but he was just walking down another empty corridor, nothing much to see. He ran a hand through his hair before reaching into an interior pocket on his jacket and retrieving a thick red phone from it. He should give Lady a call, just to check up on her. She had been in that car accident after all.

His fingers dialed the numbers before he even considered stopping it. What could he say? He was an impulsive guy.

"Hello?"

"Hey Lady, how's the neck?"

"Hurts a tiny fraction less than the last time you called, which leaves it in the 'hurts like bloody hell' range. And I'm going stir crazy here. Please tell me you called because you got some pro bono work."

"Sorry Lady, you're on house arrest, doc's _and_ boss' orders."

"Yeah, when do you ever listen to the boss anyway? On that note, how's Nero?"

"Eh.." he looked around trying to come up with a quick lie.

"Oh no Tony…"

"What? He's just not here…right this second."

"So where is he?"

"Um…"

"Grue is going to kill you."

"I think what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"I think you're playing with fire Tony, and on thin ice, no less."

"It's no fun any other way," he grinned widely.

She chuckled on the other end of the line. "So what the hell are you up to? You sound like you're ass deep in something if you don't have the kid with you."

"Oh, you know. Demon emperors and demon worshipping cults. The usual stuff."

"The demon emperor? You mean…_the_ demon emperor?"

"Supposedly."

"Of all the times for me to have an injury! So what the hell are you planning to do about it?"

"Send him with a one way ticket back to hell baby."

"Of course you are. Demon worshiping cult. You're back in Fortuna, aren't you?"

"Can't tell you that."

"Come on Tony. If you are I know that Grue didn't send you. What are you doing back there?"

"It's a long story," he sighed.

Nero had been wandering around the castle for a while now and hadn't seen any sign of the older man. No blood or anything either, so he had to assume that Tony was alright.

'_Damn guy better be alright…'_ he thought to himself as he walked. It was kinda creepy in here. There was furniture and armor covered in layers of dust and cobwebs. A standing reminder that there had once been life here a long time ago. But…no one really knew what happened to the castle. It was like the occupants had just gotten up and left without notice and without taking anything with them.

'_Or died.' _Nero felt a shiver travel down his spine at the thought.

Not much had changed. Credo, Kyrie and himself had made trips up to the castle before the Order had sealed it off for being dangerous. No one was suppose to come up this way without a damn good reason, and most didn't. He could see some footsteps had rattled the dust that had once settled on the floor and could only assume they were Tony's. He was the only one who should have been up here after all.

He sighed and looked down at his devil arm. Was it good or bad? He hated it, yes. It constantly hungered for power, for influence, for dominance…but the fact was it had come in handy. Maybe Tony had a point, it didn't matter that he had devil blood, what mattered was how he used it. If he helped people, or if he hurt people. He clenched his hand.

Maybe. Or maybe he was just trying too hard to justify himself. He was just trying to find an excuse to seek out and harness more power. Maybe it really did just made him a monster.

* * *

Tony signed off with Lady after giving her a basic rundown of what was going on. He didn't want to be terribly specific because he was worried that she might show up, injuries and all if he did. Lady would be in a lot of trouble in a mission setting if she couldn't move her head quickly enough to look over her shoulder at all times. He definitely wanted her to sit this one out. Though, he also wanted someone to cover his ass if Grue came poking around and he was sure that the man was going to. He was just going to avoid it at all costs.

He looked around, another hallway, but it was one he hadn't been in before. He grabbed the nearest door handle and let himself in. He quirked an eyebrow, realizing that he was in a lavishly decorated bedroom. Though everything was still covered in dust just like the rest of this place.

'_Not bad digs. I wonder if my old man slept in here,' _he thought to himself, closing the door behind him as he strolled inside. If Sparda really had lived here…it seemed like the lap of luxury, a huge castle and worshippers who would likely bow to your every whim. What in the world caused him to leave? Then again, what was so important it made him leave his family? He sighed, and knew he was brooding too much about his father. He wasn't the brooding type.

He glanced over to a mirror alongside of himself and shot it a smirk, something that quickly turned into a look of confusion when the reflection didn't smirk back. Instead it took on a life of its own, smoothing its hair back and striding forward until it walked straight out of the mirror. As it did, it took on its own appearance, a being encased in ebony armor.

"This stinkin' hole was the last place I thought I'd find anyone with some guts," he stated, pacing back and forth a few steps as the newcomer drew a large sword from his side. "This is gonna be fun." the devil hunter grinned, producing Rebellion as they faced one another, getting ready to battle.

* * *

Hopefully the chapter was worth the wait :3 I'm doing the best I can to inject some plot, instead of just having boss battles back to back to back XD Hope I'm doing okay. :3 Leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth October 9, 2012


	17. Chapter 17

The Company CHAPTER 17

Ebony Redgrave: Whiplash is a bit of a hard thing to recover from very quickly, trust me, I know. I love Lady though so she'll hopefully make some more appearances :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Definitely reference to the original DMC! :D Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Seeker Heart: Dante and Nelo Angelo duke it out this chapter, hope you like it :3 Nero is thinking of himself a bit like a bad guy, but he'll probably come around, eventually. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

surrendertome: I felt like last chapter needed some introspection, and Nero has always been a little ambivalent about his arm and what it means about his own character. I wanted to flesh that out more and I finally get the chance to explore that arc in this story! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Pandora is a very cool weapon, I just have a lot of trouble getting it to work right for me XD It is certainly Nelo Angelo in the mirror :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: Dante's thoughts are always a little difficult for me but I'm glad you like them, I always figure he's a little silly :3 As for playing the game, I feel your pain XD I am terrible at it. I have to play through on easy/human mode before I can even begin surviving on Devil Hunter mode X_X Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I know it's been forever since I updated this story and I am SO SORRY! I got stuck on this and got caught up in some more personal projects, but I'm here to inform you that I am not giving up on this story! I have a lot planned for it so I hope you guys are still in for the ride!

* * *

Dante held Rebellion steady as his eyes carefully examined his opponent. He felt like there was something familiar about the dark knight, but couldn't put his finger on it. The demon seemed to be studying him as well, as though thinking the same.

The knight made the first move, swinging the large blade which the hunter countered easily. This continued for a few moments until the blades clashed again and Nelo Angelo yanked, the hook-like edges of his sword caught the grooves in Rebellion and tore her free of her wielder.

Dante didn't miss a beat, even being disarmed and quickly drew out his new weapon which took the shape of a turret gun. He dropped down and fired a volley of bullets. None of them penetrated the enchanted armor, but the force did make him stumble back. It was enough time to allow the hunter to summon his blade back to him, catching it and crossing swords again, this time he was careful to keep his prized weapon in his hands.

However it was as if the dark knight knew his every move and could counter it easily. Well, if his mastery of the sword wasn't going to help him maybe his gun slinging would. He pushed forward with his blade before jumping back to retrieve his dual pistols and released a hailstorm of bullets which simply bounced off armor or his opponent's blade. Damn it! If he could just find some sort of weak point!

After a moment Nelo Angelo swung his zweihander and started to block the incoming projectiles rendering them useless. A second later Dante found a fireball coming his way and quickly rolled across the ground to dodge it, before once again moving into range to swing Rebellion. He managed to land a few hits on the knight, but they all bounced off his armor, he couldn't seem to find a weak point. The thought of a strategic retreat hit him, but he'd never run from anything and wasn't about to start now. If he couldn't hurt him directly, he'd have to do it indirectly.

He waited for an opening then swung his sword out to hit Nelo Angelo's knees, dropping him to the ground. As he lifted his blade to cast another blow his opponent disappeared resurfacing just behind him. He whirled to face the threat when the knight shot his hand up, his grip closing around his throat making him gasp and struggle. As he did his half of the Perfect Amulet came loose from his shirt, fully visible.

The dark knight stared at it for a long moment before letting out a howl of pain, a bright light flashing from his form. Dante fell to his knees struggling for breath as he grabbed for Rebellion's hilt only to find that his opponent had disappeared. He looked around, suspicious of foul play. After a few minutes passed in utter silence he realized he really was gone.

But why? He had come very close to getting the upper hand, why not finish the job? He looked down at his amulet and frowned.

* * *

Credo stood at Sanctus' side waiting for him to ascend. It was by no means a quick or painless transformation but every second that ticked by made him worry that much more. He jumped a little when His Holiness twitched. Here it was, the beginning of the transformation. His body writhed and convulsed on the platform and his eyes shined red.

His worry became more acute as he went still. Everything had gone correctly, they'd worked all the kinks out of the ascension ceremony before they tested it on any of the higher officials. His burden was eased as Sanctus' gray eyes opened.

"You have awakened."

"Credo."

"My men are currently in pursuit of Dante it is only a matter of time before his location is revealed."

"He came to us. It is fortunate I was able to participate in the ascension ceremony."

Agnus walked up his eyes wide in wonder. "Ah…His Holiness…! You look magnificent," he breathed as he moved closer as though for a better look. However Credo prevented this by moving his body to block the doctor. He didn't trust him. He had a few bolts loose in his opinion and His Holiness seemed to trust him too much at times as well.

"You sent that cocky kid Nero to find Dante?" he questioned with a glare, ducking around to the other side to get a better look at His Holiness.

"You question my command?" he asked coldly, resting his hand on the tablet the priest was laying on to again block Agnus' way. He didn't like to be challenged especially by Agnus.

"Yes! How can you trust him when he's had p-p-prior contact with Dante? And what shall befall me s-s-s-should he stumble upon my research facility?"

"Our priority is to capture Dante. Nero serves our wishes or he wouldn't have come to my aid in the Opera House."

"You t-t-t-t-"

"Credo," Sanctus' soft voice seemed to shatter the tense air and Credo went back to ignoring the scientist.

"Yes your holiness?"

"Gather everyone, I must ease their minds on this matter."

"As you wish," he said with a tilt of his head before turning to stride out of the room. He would prefer to stay, and guard the priest but direct orders were not to be disobeyed.

Agnus frowned after him, he was putting too much faith in his 'little brother.' Perhaps he would have to be dealt with by someone without those familial ties.

* * *

Nero strode into the courtyard Dante's trail had led him to. The air was warming the ice slowly starting to melt away, though the breeze still held a bitter chill. Whatever had taken over the castle Tony had apparently taken care of it before he arrived.

"What a showoff," he grumbled to himself looking at the large black hunks of rock littering the ground. He tilted his head curiously as he made his way forward and laid his hands on one of the pieces. There were runes carved into it just like the one at the mining town. There had been a gate here too. Where were they coming from? Okay, he knew some of the Order members were turning themselves into demons, however…why make these gateways? Why release demons into the town? It didn't make any sense. The point of the Order was to protect the citizens.

He felt a subtle change in the energy around him and moved back, looking around for the source of the change. His hair was standing on end and an uneasy feeling settled in his stomach. There was a crack of lightning and he looked up, though there were no clouds in the sky. Another rumble and then there was a blinding white flash that made the half devil stumble backwards. He blinked rapidly, his vision flickering black as he attempted to see.

He heard loud footfalls and the ground rumbled as though something huge was moving. He finally got his sight back and looked into the courtyard to see a giant creature. Part bird, part lion and there was a sword in it's beak flickering with lightning. The demon released it and the blade flew down into one of the pieces of rubble.

"What happened here?" Griffon demanded as he looked around until he spotted Nero walking out, brushing off his coat. "You destroyed the hell gate?"

"So what if I did?" he asked offhandedly.

"I don't think you have the strength."

"Then why don't you come over here and find out?" he challenged with a smirk.

* * *

This chapter was just really hard for me. It took forever to decide how to write the Nelo Angelo fight and I'm not sure if I really did it justice, so I hope no one is too disappointed. There will be other fights with him, so no worries there. I'm excited to get further into this because I'm looking forward to some of the scenes that are coming up for me to write :3

On a side note in reference to the scene with Sanctus. Has anyone else notice that Credo seems to be particularly protective of him? I didn't really notice until I had to watch the scene like 4 times to get the dialogue and my sister pointed it out to me. I just thought it was interesting :)

Leave a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth November 25, 2012


	18. Chapter 18

The Company CHAPTER 18

Seeker Heart: Lots of questions ya got! XD They'll be answered in due time, starting with if Nero deals with Griffon :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: I'm glad you liked Nelo Angelo's fight. I thought it was a bit short, but I did the best with what I was working with :3 I intend to make this a kind of 'all stars' story I want most of the big bads to make different appearances. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Chain Mell: I miss DMC 4 too. I was playing today to get in the mood for this chapter. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: I only fought Nelo Angelo once, and to be honest I was freaking out too much to remember anything he did XD Though I remember it not being as hard as I thought it would be. I love Dante cosplays! I wanted to do one, but it seems so difficult! It is kind of a funny relationship Credo and Agnus have, competing against each other for Sanctus' attention and I think the old man really uses it to his own advantage. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I feel your pain on the difficulty level of DMC XD I can't get past easy on 3 or 4 so the first one kills me! I actually haven't made it to Griffon, so the fight probably doesn't go the same as it does in the game because, even if I tried to look up a play through it's hard to make out anyway. I did my own take, so I hope you like it :3 As for Credo and Agnus, I really think that Sanctus is just pitting them against each other to his own advantage. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Got out another chapter! ;3 Hope you guys like this one! It's a little more of a filler type chapter, but it's worth it I think to get to the next chapter! ;3 Enjoy!

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Griffon laughed. "Are you challenging me? You're not worth my time."

"You're scared. I get it," he said innocently, looking down at Red Queen while he spoke as though examining the blade.

The demon snarled. "I was feeling benevolent human, I will smash you to nothingness!"

"I'm not sure 'nothingness' is a real word," he grinned.

Griffon pounced and Nero smirked, dodging out of the way, before turning around and striking out with his sword. A scream was torn from his throat as arcs of electricity traveled up the steel and into his body.

The demon took the opportunity to swat him with one massive paw, sending him hurtling into one of the stone walls. His body cracked the mortar before he collapsed into a heap on the cold ground.

"Where's your witty banter now, human?"

His muscles twitched a little as he tried to control them, moving to lift himself up on his hands.

"Good move," he grit out between his teeth.

"Rather resilient for such a little pest."

He let out a light chuckle. "You don't know the half of it." He managed to push himself up onto his feet. Griffon didn't hurry, just slowly stalked towards him, ready to bat him into another wall once he was close enough. He lifted one paw again and Nero leapt out of the way. It was meant to be a graceful roll, but he didn't quite manage it. His muscles still felt like jelly and he couldn't get enough of a response to manage the entire roll which left him laying on his back. He quickly twisted to get out of the way of Griffon's claws coming down to crush him.

He grabbed Blue Rose from his side and lifted it firing several shots at the demon's face. Griffon screeched and shook himself as the bullets struck him. Nero noticed that the electric field around him seemed to go down as he was distracted and a smirk curled his lips. He forced himself back to his feet, his muscles deciding to cooperate as he ran under the beast and made an uppercut motion with his right arm, the ghostly apparition followed and launched the creature into the air. As the demon started to come back down he rotated his arm to follow through with a regular punching motion enough force behind it that Griffon slammed into the remains of the hellgate with a satisfying clatter but Nero was sure he also heard a 'snap.' The demon howled before snarling at him.

"You're not human! You're the son of Sparda!"

Nero grinned as he retrieved Red Queen. "Who knows? Ready for round two yet bird brain?"

The demon ignored him. "I have to take this information back to Lord Mundus," he muttered before beating his wings and starting into the sky.

"Hey! Stop!" Nero snapped as he tried to run after him, launching his arm out to grab at his foot. He almost made it, so close that he cursed as his arm ricochet back to him. "What the hell was that about?" he wondered. That thing obviously hadn't found Tony yet. What was it doing here though? What was it carrying before?

He strolled over to where the sword the demon was carrying had landed earlier. He stopped to examine it. It no longer had lightning flickering over the length, so maybe that was Griffon's doing. It looked like a regular double-edged blade coming out of the hilt that looked like the mouth of a dragon, the wings making up the guard. Though the energy coming from it reminded him of one of Tony's devil arms, he figured he should be careful.

He reached out to grab the blade when he heard a voice.

"I am Alastor. The weak shall give their heart and swear their eternal loyalty to me."

With that the blade vibrated and flew out of the stone, launching itself at Nero's chest. He gasped and lunged out of the way so the blade impaled itself into the wet ground instead.

"Whoa, that was close," he muttered, hesitantly approaching it again. When he reached out the same thing happened again and he managed to get away but took a nick to his ribs. "Okay, forget it," the sword wasn't worth being impaled.

He sighed. "Okay Tony, where did you go from here?"

* * *

Dante wandered down the back stairs of the castle when he heard a series of strange noises. For a minute he'd been hearing the sound of a waterfall crashing, but then there were several banging noises and the water stopped.

He hurried forward, his CIA instincts telling him to find out more information as he drew Ebony and Ivory. He peered out around the corner and heard a metal screeching noise as a bridge moved from behind the waterfall to the castle. As he observed he saw a man scribbling on a clipboard walking across in brisk strides.

'_I wonder where he's coming from,' _he thought, deciding to follow the bridge and see where it went after the man left.

Thankfully Agnus took the other staircase and Dante made his way to the bridge. Before he made it on he heard that screeching sound again. The bridge was about to retract where it'd come from. In fact, it was already disengaging from his side. He jumped out and landed, wobbling a little before running across into the cave on the other side. A moment later the waterfall crashed behind him, blocking him in.

"Huh. Well kid, I guess you're really on your own now," he shrugged and made his way through the tunnel.

* * *

Nero sat on the edge of the chandelier staring at the portrait of the late priest. His mind was ticking away under the surface as he rested his chin on his human palm. The picture looked recent, too recent really. The castle had been condemned for years so why on earth would someone place a brand new painting here? There must have been a reason and the only one coming to the young man's paranoid mind was it must have been hiding something.

He pushed himself up to his feet and walked back to where the lighting fixture was attached to the ceiling. His gaze moved back to the picture and a smirk tugged his lips. If he cut the support the correct way it would smash into that portrait. Nero took an extra moment to make sure he had the angles just right before drawing Red Queen and slashing straight through the support.

He kept his balance as the chandelier swung by its chain down to the painting jumping off a split second before the impact. He was able to land on his feet, the destroyed lighting fixture bouncing over him as he made his way into the hidden passageway that his diligence had revealed. He was beginning to feel more and more certain that there was something very, very wrong with the Order.

"So, what are you hiding down here I wonder?" he asked himself as he began his decent.

* * *

So, you can see we're building up to the confrontation with Agnus, you guys excited? You should be! Cause I'm excited to write it! XD Thanks for reading! Leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth December 11, 2012


	19. Chapter 19

The Company CHAPTER 19

Ebony Redgrave: I feel bad for Griffon too seeing as I remember what happens to him. He really was loyal to Mundus which is what makes Dante hate the demon lord so much :3 Nero is pretty lucky he wasn't impaled by Alastor! XD Almost though, almost. Agnus isn't going to be too short lived. Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Seeker Heart: Well, we know for sure one thing he's going to find in the castle ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Yeah Agnus was on his way back to the lab just as Nero was finding his way there. The whole plot of the story is kind of a tangle still, even to me. No worries, I'll get it figured out ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: Yep, bits of DMC1 are woven into this story, how they're going to finally pan out not even I know yet! Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I thought that would be funny with Alastor :3 Nero definitely didn't want to be impaled! :3 Nero's confronting Agnus alone, Dante has already headed into the forest :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I wanna thank all of you guys for being patient with this story! I think when it's done it's going to be great it's just taking me awhile. Again, thanks for hanging in there with me! Enjoy!

* * *

Nero was on guard by the time he reached the end of the hallway and came into a room that was completely round, the ceiling high up and a strange metal generator in the center of it all. There were large swords hung on hooks on the wall and the young knight didn't especially like the vibe he got from them. There was also a large pane of glass to the front wall and as Nero made his way towards it his arm began to respond in earnest, lighting up with a blue glow.

He pulled his eyes away from it to look up at the window that seemed to be showing him some kind of…laboratory or workroom. He couldn't quite decide which. He realized after a moment that it wasn't a demon his arm was responding to, it was some sort of broken blade which floated in a beam of its own blue light. As he watched however he realized there were footsteps on the hard floor and a man walked through, writing on a clipboard, one he recognized.

The knight didn't say anything, just watched him suspiciously. It was strange for Agnus to be here but perhaps he had a reason for it. Yeah, and maybe the world he knew wasn't crumbling under him. He should probably keep dreaming.

"So, you've come," he said by way of greeting. "Just as I'd expected."

He tilted his head and snorted lightly. "Am I late for an appointment?" he asked coldly. Something was certainly wrong here.

The doctor smiled lightly and shook his head.

"Funny. To figure an Order official out for a stroll in a hellhole kinda place like this," he offered flippantly.

"Hellhole! ? Watch your words," he warned. The young man brushed him off as he continued to look around, trying to figure out how he was suppose to get out of this dome he was trapped in. "You've always managed to hold your tongue in my presence before, but it seems you're just as foul mouthed as I've heard," he muttered, scribbling away on his clipboard as he paced back and forth. "So, the rumors prove true, just as the new ones concerning your d-d-demise."

"Don't you think that's a little harsh? Killing me because of the way I t-t-t-talk?" he shot back with a smirk.

Agnus didn't seem to find it terribly amusing and offered a glare. He had so much more to find out about that arm, but the little twerp didn't need to bantering the whole way. He was in the testing chamber anyway, may as well just weaken him from there. He lifted his hand with the pencil and dipped it, signaling dozens of living blades to shoot from the small holes in the chamber. The blades opened to produce wings and fly about, zooming in to attack the white-haired boy.

"Oh great," Nero grumbled. "More demons."

"This. This is all Credo's doing," the doctor murmured more to himself, but Nero could hear him nonetheless, amplified through some sort of speaker. He started to fight the demons off, parrying their blows as he listened and tried to figure out how to kill them at the same time. "It was Credo who ordered you to follow Dante. It was Credo who brought you here."

Nero pushed the demons away for the moment before resting his blade on his shoulder and looking up at the window. "Dante…?" he demanded angrily. "You mean the man who killed His Holiness? What the hell is going on here?"

He smiled a bit, seeming to revel in his own personal victory. "That's right, you would know him as 'Tony.' He didn't bother to tell you his real name. Anyway, I don't need to answer to you, because you're already as good as d-d-d-d-dead."

"I beg to differ," Nero replied, lifting his head defiantly but at the same time felt his gut sinking. Tony-Dante? Whoever he was had lied to him too? He didn't have time to think about it as the demons who were flying around him attacked more aggressively now. He managed to swat one with Red Queen, knocking it down so that it stuck standing up in the metal floor. He charged up the blade and with a plume of fire was able to break it to pieces. A tiny smirk tinted his lips. At least one thing would never change. He loved killing demons.

It was easy enough once he got the rhythm of it knocking the demons down and smashing them to pieces. It wasn't even all that challenging, but whenever he took one down, more simply appeared. He was in the middle of dashing apart his next victim when the room started to glow and shake. A gasp escaped his throat as he saw energy coiling in the generator in the middle. It was building up for something and it didn't seem good. Nero used his powerful legs and launched himself into the air just in time to avoid the shock that ran through the entire room. What the hell was Agnus up to?

Whatever it was he was never going to find out this way, the demons just kept spawning he needed to get out of here. The way he'd come was no good. He needed to get to Agnus and find out what the hell was going on here. Well, there was one direct path. He ran forward and smashed his bringer as well as his sword into the glass separating him from his 'doctor.'

Agnus fell back as shards of glass tinkled against the floor, he cowered on the ground as Nero stood tall, the blades in the room behind seeming to go silent, perhaps they'd returned to their slots on the wall. It didn't matter in any case. Nero stalked closer to Agnus, intent on answers.

"That's demonic power…but how can that be? You've gotten stronger…"

"Look who's talking jackass-now answer my questions," he snapped pointing the tip of Red Queen's blade at the man and causing him to yelp. "What the hell is going on here?"

Agnus tilted his head down to look at Nero's arm. He'd never seen it so brightly lit with anger, maybe the young man possessed more demonic power than he thought-driven by emotion. "How…profound."

Nero was distracted to look down at it himself for a moment, opening his claws. It was enough time for Agnus to slip around his blade and reach out for his bringer, imagining the new slew of tests he could perform while the young man was agitated-perhaps there was more to be learned about stimuli and response in power levels.

Nero backpedaled quickly, trying to get out of reach-he definitely didn't want the crazy fuck touching his arm now-he was controlling those demons in the other chamber!

"It's magnificent!"

"Okay, are you hearing me?" he challenged, swinging Red Queen up towards the doctor's neck once again. This time the man seemed prepared and quite startlingly focused. He stopped the blade with his index, middle fingers and thumbs. Holding back Nero's strength-the strength he'd tested against Berial just a few hours ago-and treating it as though it were nothing.

"You want answers, then I shall give them to you," he said in a whisper as though he were sharing a secret. Then he released the blade and made Nero stumble backwards with a glower. How was he so damn strong? He thought back to the other knights Tony had dispatched so easily, but they hadn't had any extra speed or power or they might've stood a chance against the other man.

"It has only been a few years since I began this research. Could we isolate and bind demonic power? It could enable us to conquer the world! And that-that is the wish of His Holiness."

'_Holy shit he's crazy,'_ Nero thought to himself. "What a crock," he said aloud, lifting his blade once again to point it at the doctor, his fist clenched in anger. "Well you might as well ditch the efforts, pal, because, His Holiness is dead."

Agnus lifted his hands, wanting to further explain. He might be able to sway the young man's convictions. "Ahhhh, but His Holiness as been reborn, as an angel," he insisted as Nero lowered Red Queen touching the tip to the floor.

"An angel?" he asked dubiously with a shake of his head. Tony was right, they were turning themselves into demons.

"And soon!…Soon. So shall I," he said with a deep bow.

'_I gotta stop this. Agnus is the one doing all the research-he researched _me_. They might hit some trouble if I take him out.'_ he thought. Then Agnus lifted just his head and smiled and Nero heard a noise-from his right-back in the chamber it was probably-! He didn't have time to finish the thought, or really even any time to look as he was launched across the room by a living suit of armor. Red Queen clattered noisily to the floor but Nero barely noticed. The lance pierced through his stomach as he hit the opposite wall. Pipes burst around him emitting clouds of steam. He wanted to scream as the lance was removed leaving a gaping wound, before he could fall to the floor however two more of the things appeared their lances being shoved into the wall under his arms, keeping him suspended.

He went limp and tried to breathe.

"See what just a small fraction of my research has yielded? Look, how beautiful this white armor stands," the doctor implored as he turned back to the flying demon suits of armor. "You have no idea the hardship to make just one armor come to life."

Nero continued to focus on breathing, he needed to get the hell out of here, there was a whole lot of crazy going on here and he didn't want to catch any of it. The wound in his stomach wasn't as bad as it had first seemed. It would have been much worse had it hit him in the chest, he was already starting to heal.

"I had to capture and control countless demons to harness their souls. Summoning them alone was an almost insurmountable task."

That caught his attention. "Summoning…?" This day made a bit more sense now. As much as it could really. "So it was you, who made the gate?" he grit out, a glare on his face.

"Yes! Yes! The Hell gate!" he said quickly, almost as though he were proud of it. He was up close now and Nero wanted to kick him, but couldn't find the strength. "I created it merely as a reference-in substitution for the real gate after utilizing an extremely powerful devil's arm. It proved sufficient."

Nero let out a sigh. So there were devil's arms involved, though it was better to play dumb, he was in too much of a weakened state. "What the hell are you talkin' about?"

The doctor didn't seem terribly pleased with his response. He wanted to gloat-he wanted to have someone who would fawn over his discoveries and hard work. Nero realized his miscalculation a bit too late as Agnus let out a little hum and held out his hand-one of those swords that had been attacking him earlier flying into the other man's grasp.

"You…should rest."

Damn that sounded awfully final.

The sword was plunged into his chest a moment later and his body went rigid with pain a cry leaving his throat, accompanied by some blood. He could feel more of it seeping into his lungs. Oh damn, he wasn't going to survive this. He went limp again and as he tried to breathe found his mouth tasted like copper, more blood coming out with each cough.

"You'll be my next subject Nero. There were things I was forbidden to try before, but now that you're here…you know too much. Even Credo can't protect you now. I will find out everything I want to know about that arm."

Nero found the strength to lift himself up again, though he wasn't sure how. Defiance he supposed. "Never," he whispered and spat some of the blood at his would be captor. He reveled in his slight victory as the man flinched away, disgusted as it landed on his cheek. It didn't last long before the blade in his chest was shoved deeper causing another sound of pain-then ripped out altogether making him groan and choke as the doctor moved away.

Agnus shook his head. If the boy wouldn't heal from a wound like that, what kind of power could he really possess anyway? They'd continue with Dante as planned.

"T-t-t-t-take him out," he told the demonic armor.

Nero looked up to see the demons coming at him, his eyes searching for a way out-a way to escape this. _'That's it. I'm really going to die here. All because of this stupid arm.' _he thought closing his eyes and letting his head fall forward.

* * *

This chapter is so long! I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I liked writing it! I wrote it all at one time so I'm hoping it's not too jumbled or anything. Leave me a review! Until next time! Happy New Year!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth December 31, 2012


	20. Chapter 20

The Company CHAPTER 20

Seeker Heart: Glad it seems I got you on the edge of your seat ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

SirenaLoreley: Tony went through to the jungle already so Nero is kind of on his own :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: The last chapter was so long already I couldn't do the whole scene in one chapter! I had to break it off there, it was the moment of highest suspense! XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: I appreciate your honesty. It was basically rehash last chapter and a chunk of this one as well. I can only help my insights into their heads adds some interest. There really was no other way to do this part though, I love this scene so I felt like I needed to stay true to everything ;3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Yeah, sorry for the rehash last chapter and for leaving you hanging for almost two weeks! I suck! This chapter has a bit of new material so I hope you enjoy it! :3

* * *

_Nero looked up to see the demons coming at him, his eyes searching for a way out-a way to escape this. 'That's it. I'm really going to die here. All because of this stupid arm.' he thought closing his eyes and letting his head fall forward._

As soon as he felt the sting of defeat settling around him another thought clobbered him in the head.

"_Kyrie-run!"_

_Then there was the most terrified scream he'd ever heard. It made his gut twist. "Nero!"_

"_Kyrie! Kyrie!"_

That was the day his arm had changed, the accident where he'd gotten hurt, but he'd managed to protect his sister. She still had Credo to protect her if he died here, but if Credo had turned himself into a demon then Tony would destroy him. No. He couldn't let that happen.

His eyes opened, not even a second had passed by, the demons were still coming for him. He didn't know it but his own eyes were glowing red, power was surging through him originating from his arm. He clenched and then opened the claws of his bringer. He recognized nothing around him, he was so entirely focused on his arm-something was going to happen. He knew that moment had come when something landed smack-dab in his palm.

He lifted his arm and made a slash with the blade that had previously been floating broken in the center of the room. Energy flew away from him in a wave, smashing through the suits of armor and destroying them as well as knocking Agnus through the broken window on the other side of the room. As the mad scientist flew his body changed, looking like a large white beetle. He crashed into the side wall before landing on his feet, doubled over and looking up for the source of such energy. At first all he saw were feathers from his destroyed creations and a plume of smoke from his destroyed lab.

Then he saw the young man, clutching the restored Yamato, his eyes glowing red and a huge glowing-blue figure outlined behind him.

Nero's body was stiff, still recovering from the massive injury, but given the power of animation nonetheless. It was hard for him to breathe, but getting easier. His steps were heavy, almost as though he were a puppet on strings, a blue glow tinged either side of his vision and he held onto the blade like it was his lifeline.

"How…? Not even I could succeed in restoring it!" he demanded, the scientist's voice sounded like static from an old radio.

Nero didn't hear him though, he was still trapped in his own thoughts. "From that day forth…my arm changed…" His own voice was accompanied by a deeper, almost growling voice, but he didn't notice it. "And a voice echoed…'power…give me more…power,'" he snarled the words, as if they disgusted him.

Agnus had no idea what he was talking about. "What?"

"And if I become a demon, so be it. I will endure the exile. Anything to protect her," He would do anything to protect her, he'd even kill Tony-Dante-the Son of Sparda! Whoever he was! If he got in the way it didn't matter.

With his last words he flicked Yamato upward, a slice of energy forming in it's wake headed straight for the scientist. Or at least it was suppose to. He wasn't used to the blade and the energy ended up cutting a hole in the testing chamber, bits of rubble falling away as Agnus stared at it in awe.

Nero closed his eyes, he could feel the energy that had fueled him this far starting to ebb away.

"This is preposterous!" the demonic scientist shouted. "Preposterous!" he insisted before opening his wings and buzzing through the flaming hole in the ceiling.

Nero was still breathing deeply and he looked down at the long blade in his hand before closing his eyes. Did he really just say all that? Yamato disappeared into a flood of blue light, but it still felt as though it were right there. It was still with him, just in his arm. At the same time he felt his energy drop off. He fell down on his hands and knees, pressing his human hand to his chest. It was slick with blood and his clothes were torn, but it wasn't painful. There were absolutely no wounds to be found under his fingers.

How was that even remotely possible? That should have killed him.

He looked at his devil bringer, at the sword that was nestled inside, feeding him energy. Helping to keep him alive. Was this really the power of those devil's arms that Tony had? And was it even really the sword? He just claimed that he didn't care if he was a demon, and maybe he shouldn't. Tony didn't seem to care. He had demonic blood. He was a demon whether he wanted to be or not, didn't this just prove it?

He felt a laugh bubble out of his throat as he rocked back and forth on the floor, gaining a little more strength every time he stopped for a breath. There was a slightly hysterical edge to it, but he didn't care. It was all too crazy. Why did this have to happen to him?

He finally stopped to take in a few deep breaths. He needed to get a hold of himself, there were more important things at stake here.

He started to get back to his feet, it was a little harder than he figured it should be. "I should get back to Headquarters. If what Agnus said is true…Credo must know something." He was the second-in-command. If there was anything going on at all Credo would be the first to know about it. That was what worried him.

* * *

After some more searching around the lab Nero was able to find the bridge that Dante had crossed earlier that led to the other side of the waterfall. He ran across worried that it would try to retract at any moment and crush him under the flow of water. He didn't wait to see how long it would take for it to return. He had to get to the bottom of what was going on.

The tunnel he walked through made him nervous. What if it was some kind of dead end? There was no way back. He didn't let himself dwell on that for too long as a few steps later he was out in some kind of…jungle. He frowned and walked further forward, up ahead there was a drop-off that showed the vastness of the jungle he was now trapped in. As he looked he saw a flash of red in his vision and there was Tony as though he were an apparition.

"What the hell is this! ? Must be the effect of the gate." he stated, lifting his arms to gesture to the jungle. He glanced back over his shoulder. "I wondered when you'd show up kid," he paused to look him over. He could smell blood on the young man and his jacket was buttoned shut, something that he'd never seen Nero do before. "You don't look so good."

"Been a pretty rough day," he answered dryly, his eyes had a wary edge to them and he didn't come any closer.

"You okay?"

"I'll live," he replied shortly.

Tony looked positively puzzled. "Is this because I left you behind earlier because if it is I-"

Nero shook his head. "How much have you lied to me about?"

That puzzled expression didn't shift an inch. "What? I haven't lied to you kid."

"Then who is Dante?" he snarled.

The agent kept his poker face in place. "I don't know," he shrugged. "Where did you hear that name?"

"They told me it was the name of the man who killed His Holiness."

Dante looked out at the jungle, deciding on whether to tell a lie or just come clean. "Tony is my real name. It's just that I have more than one, okay? I didn't lie to you."

"Why do you have more than one name?"

"I can't tell you a lot, okay? You're going to have to accept that much. I could get in real trouble from you knowing as much as you do. Dante is my…real name I guess. It was the one I was born with. Tony is my identity when I'm working for the people I work for. You were part of the mission so Tony was the name I was suppose to tell you. Is that a good enough explanation for ya, kid?"

"I…guess it is," he said slowly, still a bit uncertain.

"Well, there's other things at stake here than just what I call myself you know? You figured anything out?"

"I got the devil arm, or whatever that the Order has been using to open portals to hell. I also know who opened the gates, but he got the drop on me. He got away," he sighed.

"What did you do with the arm?"

He hesitated in answering before stepping up to the cliff. "My arm absorbed it."

"Really now? That's interesting. What was it?"

"A katana, or something I think."

Tony's heart skipped a beat. A katana powerful enough to open hell gates?

"Could you summon it?" he asked, before he could check the concern in his voice. Nero stared at him for a moment before nodding slightly.

He held his right arm out a little from his body and Yamato's hilt appeared in his fingers with a bright glow.

Tony's gaze softened to something akin to heartbreaking sadness. Nero had never seen him look like that-he doubted too many had.

"What's wrong?"

He shook his head and the look disappeared. "That's my brother's sword."

"Sparda had _two_ sons?"

"Twins as a matter of fact," he grinned. "That sword is a powerful thing though kid, maybe I should-" before he could finish Nero reabsorbed the blade.

"I need it for now. I have to find out what's going on."

"Heh, what a punk. Alright I got some business to take care of myself. Starting with what's going on in this jungle."

"I guess that makes two of us."

"Well then, care to join me?" he grinned, back to his usual playful self. "I've been lost here for the last hour or so and I'm right back where I started."

Nero couldn't hold back a light laugh. "Why would I want to go with you if you're so miserably lost?"

"So you can help me navigate? So I'm not so piteously lost?" he suggested.

Nero chuckled and shook his head. "Okay, truce. Let's see if we can get through this jungle."

* * *

I miss the banter between these two terribly when I have to split them up. I'm hoping I won't have to break them up again for the rest of the story because their dynamic is what I really like to write. Let me know what you guys thought of this chapter :3 Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth January 12, 2013


	21. Chapter 21

The Company CHAPTER 21

SirenaLoreley: I'm glad you liked the last chapter, I loved writing the part where Nero and Dante reunite :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Winged Element: Writing this story has been a heck of a ride trying to make it different while still keeping key elements of the story XD Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

L. K. Heinrich: Banter and bickering is going to commence a bit in this chapter! Nero is taking baby steps towards accepting what he is. :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

Flame-Metal-Heart: I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! :3 Thanks for reviewing! *gives cookies*

I know it's been a long time since I updated this because I put it on hiatus. I hope a few of you are still interested in what's going to happen :3 Enjoy!

* * *

The kid was still wary of him as they tromped through the jungle together. It was okay though, even if it was reluctant trust, it was trust nonetheless. The kid should know the way…or at least Dante had thought so. He was the one who lived here after all, but it seemed Nero was just as lost as he had been. The hot weather in the city was bad enough but in the jungle the humidity was through the roof. It made sweat bead everywhere and their clothes stuck to every inch of skin.

Nero unbuttoned his jacket, allowing the older devil hunter to see the damage that had been wrought to his clothing and undoubtedly to the flesh that the fabric had been covering. It looked like he'd been stabbed, more than once. He didn't ask about it. He figured if Nero wanted to tell him about it he would, he was his mentor, not his mom. It also wasn't as though his clothes were any better, Trish had impaled him and left a sizable hole and char mark in his own shirt.

The heat would have been more bearable if they could remove their jackets but with holsters threaded through everywhere it was a harder task than it seemed and neither one wanted to stop, given that when they did demons came out of the woodwork trying to murder them, so they didn't want to spend even a second unarmed. They just walked in the shade as much as possible.

The temperature was having an effect on more than just morale though, it also served to turn their tempers paper thin.

"We've already been that way," Nero snapped impatiently.

"No," Tony replied slowly, forcing patience into his tone. "We haven't. We haven't even been here before," he said, gesturing at their current location. "Just come on, I think the gate is this way."

Nero made a face, but clenched his teeth, took a deep breath and forced himself to relax as he swiped the back of his hand over his forehead. "Okay. Whatever gets us out of this Godforsaken place."

The older male nodded in agreement. "The change in these places is just so damn stark. How is it we went from a freezing cold castle to the most humid jungle in existence?"

"I don't know," Nero sighed. "Let's not talk about how hot it is."

Dante nodded and they tramped onward until they entered a vast canyon. The walls were smoothed gray stone from years of wind erosion but someone had been this way-enough times that there were metal grates forming bridges to and fro to either side of the gorge. The older male noticed some thick spider webs lingering here and there but nothing to get alarmed about. Could have just been some Arachne or something.

"I think you're right, we haven't been this way," Nero relented letting out a soft sigh of relief as the wind whipped by them, cooling their sticky skin.

"Yeah, good, let's just hope it's the right direction," he grinned as they made their away around the place.

The breeze was nice, but at the same time put them a little on edge as it hindered two of the senses they relied on-hearing and scent.

"There's a bridge over there, think we should get to the other side?" Nero asked gesturing to a bridge-like structure made of grates of thick metal.

"Not much else to do, is there?" Tony smirked. "Think it's sturdy enough to hold our weight?"

"Yeah, doesn't look rusted or anything. Shouldn't be a problem. People must have traveled this way for it to be in this kind of condition."

Their boots clanked noisily as they stepped onto the steel platform, testing it for a moment before deeming it safe enough to go across. They traveled in silence for a few steps but Nero couldn't stand the quiet.

"How long do you think it took for this jungle to get so…vast?" he asked.

"Probably awhile. The longer a gate is open the more of an effect it has. This was probably open longer than the one in the castle."

"And that one was probably open longer than the one near the ghost town."

"Wait-there's another one? Did you take the devil's arm?" Tony heard a slight rustling sound and hesitated.

"No. I'll have to deal with it later," he answered, tilting his head. There was a demon close by-_very _close. Almost on top of them-!

Tony lunged forward and Nero followed suit less than a split second later, leaping up in the air and landing next to the agent as something landed right on the grate they'd been walking on a moment before. The metal rattled but the two didn't look back immediately, simply moved forward, determined to get off the bridge so it didn't fall and take them with it.

"Show off," Tony muttered with a smirk to his younger counterpart.

"Look who's talking!"

Nero broke first and finally looked over his shoulder to see what was chasing them. He gasped and snatched Dante's arm before diving out of the way of a fireball and onto the rocky surface of the other side of the cliff. The ball exploded in a puff of smoke and when it cleared they saw a huge spidery creature. It was covered in thick brownish armor but underneath it looked like the body was made of lava.

"More small ones. I was sensing something bigger, what a disappointing catch," Phantom tsked as he crawled forward towards the two hunters as they regained their feet.

"What a big surprise. I hope for your sake you've got something inside that big body of yours," Tony smirked.

Nero wasn't too sure about taking on the huge Phantom on the cliff edge. It was terribly narrow with little room for error or maneuverability. He also wasn't sure if he wanted to fight at all. The previous battles, his near death experience and the stifling heat had effectively taken the fight out of him. However it didn't seem like it was going to matter that much. The huge spider and Tony seemed raring to fight, plus he was a demon, he needed to be taken care of anyway. Nero just would have preferred a larger area to fight.

His own hand went to Red Queen's handle revving it up, though he really wondered how much his mechanical blade would do against the lava spider. Then again he didn't do so poorly against Berial.

"Those fangs just for show or do you plan to use them for something other than talking?" the younger man baited him.

"See what ya did kid? You made it mad," Tony chuckled as Phantom raged and revealed his scorpion-like tail.

"Just following your lead old man. Now we should probably stop yapping and get to-" he cut off quickly and leapt out of the way as the spider lunged at them. He jumped over the attack, landing behind the lava spider while Dante grinned as he hopped backwards, flanking Phantom between them. Though they had the strategic advantage it didn't seem to help as Nero tried to locate a weak point. The whole thing was covered in thick brown armor reminiscent of Nero's arm.

The only part that wasn't was the back, being protected by that curved stinger. Tony was happily keeping the spider distracted with bullets and taunts but tossed a look towards the younger half-devil making Nero wonder if he was checking on him, or waiting for him to do something. He supposed the latter. He didn't want to do anything that would redirect Phantom's attacks at him because the edge he was now on was even more narrow than the one he'd been standing on before and if he was attacked he'd have to go over the enemy again, losing their strategic advantage, go backwards, and box himself in on the metal bridge, or fall. None were terribly appealing options.

He decided to give the older slayer an opening instead. Phantom held his tail about to strike when Nero grabbed onto it with his ghostly bringer and yanked it back, exposing the lava-like interior.

Phantom hissed trying to break free and whirl around but with some effort the kid managed to hold on, and Tony didn't waste any time, jumping up onto his back and striking with Rebellion. The pain of the attack made the spider thrash harder, trying to get away, swearing at the two of them intelligibly.

The increased force of his struggles made Nero grunt with the effort, clenching his hand harder. There was a loud crunch like bone shattering making both hunters freeze to check the other, their eyes meeting for a very brief second before Phantom bucked and Dante felt his balance jarred harshly and he was falling.

* * *

Yep, Dante is falling off the cliff, probably not a very good thing. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter after it's been so long since I last posted. Please leave me a review! Until next time!

Ja ne!

~Bitbyboth April 23, 2013


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